Breath of Life
by WolfoftheMoonStorm
Summary: Breaking rule number one was a terrible, terrible idea in both foresight and hindsight. But at the same time, maybe it was the best thing that had ever happened to him. (OR) After the Accident, Danny's flung into the Ghost Zone instead.
1. Chapter 1

Breath of Life – Chapter 1  
 _Lockers and Portals_

 _Tuesday_ , Danny decided, _will always be the worst_.

Here he was, shoved inside his own locker yet _again_ because Dash had gotten back a low grade in his seventh period yesterday. It was the same every week. It had been that way for… a long time. Dash gets upset, Danny pays for it. It almost always ended with a cold door slammed far too close to his nose for comfort and he could only count the seconds until either Sam or Tucker would track him down as he banged on the locker and shouted to be let out.

Right on cue, the thin door swung open and Danny toppled out of the locker, his shoulder scraping painfully along the edged metal as his support vanished. A particularly painful jolt informed him that he nearly dislocated it. Fantastic.

"What happened this time?" Tucker asked obligatorily as he and Sam helped him to his feet.

"No, let me guess: the usual with Dash?" Sam inserted dryly, tugging up the sleeve of his shirt to examine his shoulder. Faint white streaks showed that only the upper layer of skin had been disturbed, but a darker blotch of skin peeked through a gap. Sam's frowned turned into a scowl as she pulled at the loose short sleeve and examined the new bruise on his shoulder blade. "That's going to be sore. I'd put some cream on it if I were you."

"Dully noted." Danny retorted flatly. They all knew it was no use. He'd have another one by tomorrow. "Thanks, guys." He added in a softer tone.

"You shouldn't have to, dude." Tucker said stubbornly, but allowed the conversation to slide away. At least, until his eyes glinted mischievously, "We should prank him to get back at him!"

"Normally I would jump at the chance, but this is _Dash_ we're talking about, remember? Football star? Anything happens to him and all he has to do is point a finger in our direction- doesn't matter if he knows it was us or not." Danny sighed resignedly.

"So fight the system!" Sam argued, moving to stand in front of him. "You have the bruises as proof and there're a ton of people who see this stuff happen every day! You think the other victims won't leap at the chance to get Dash expelled?!"

"Shh!" Danny and Tucker hissed immediately, glancing around at the hall. The chatter of voices and squeak of shoes that bounced off the unyielding walls had thankfully drowned out Sam's voice to the rest of the student body. If someone had caught what she said… Danny shuddered to think of what the wrath of every popular kid in school could bring down on them.

"Look, you want to rant about that, come over later and do it then!" Danny whispered frantically, eyes still searching for any watching threat. He'd gladly make himself a target to protect the other "geeks" and "nerds" of the school- at least he could _handle_ the rough treatment after years of life-threatening "accidents" in the Fenton household- but he wasn't suicidal yet. He really did not need Sam potentially riling up his enemies.

Sam half-glared at him, already knowing the reason for his response, but simply snorted and remained quiet.

"Look, it's lunch. Two periods left and then bam- home free. Okay?" Danny pressed and the Goth finally nodded in acceptance.

"Speaking of lunch…" Tucker grabbed their wrists and dragged them down the hall, "C'mon lovebirds. I'm starved."

Danny and Sam spluttered indignantly. "We are not lovebirds!" They squawked simultaneously in protest.

Tucker ignored the response, though it drew brief glances from the people around them as they steadily moved towards the cafeteria. Danny shook his head at his best friend's practiced deafness and exchanged a half-amused, half-exasperated glance with his other best friend.

"Tucker, if you don't let go of us, I'll let Sam feed you tofu and keep any form of meat away from you for the next three days."

A frightened yelp later and Danny was free of the hand clamped to his wrist. He shot Tucker a smug grin while the self-proclaimed Technogeek glared at him.

"You wouldn't."

"Wouldn't I?" Danny quipped back and strolled down the hallway, leaving a stunned Tucker behind.

"3… 2… 1…" Sam murmured to him, her own amusement taking shape a smirk of her own.

The sound of Tucker chasing after him had them both bolting for the cafeteria door. He'd let him know he was joking with a trip to the Nasty Burger later.

* * *

Danny lounged sideways on his couch, brow furrowed in thought. His Algebra homework was propped up awkwardly on his knee, slanting his handwriting in an unfamiliar way. It was halfway done, but he couldn't quite keep his mind focused on grades at the moment. Sam and Tucker sat in silence with him in the wide living room. Sam sat on the other edge of the couch, pencil scratching rhythmically over an English assignment that he had yet to get to while Tucker had taken over the armchair. He swapped between his computer and a worksheet he had to fill out for History with a scowl of concentration plastered onto his expression.

Danny tapped the rubber eraser of his pencil on his teeth, glaring impatiently at the tenth problem on the worksheet. It wasn't any more difficult than the others, but his thoughts kept straying to the lab under his feet. Only a few days ago, he and Jazz had been dragged downstairs for another demonstration. The only difference from the norm was how excited his parents had been. They had finally completed the Fenton Portal, but the results weren't… what they expected. They'd taken it extraordinarily hard.

* * *

 _Danny yelped as he was abruptly dragged out of his room away from his computer. He mentally swore as his fingers glanced the mouse and closed the document he'd been working on. A fairly simple essay for English about the summer reading- which Danny had actually done this time around. It had to be two pages long and he'd only had a quarter page left to do. He mentally prayed that he could get Tucker to tell him how to restore at least some of the work, but he somehow doubted that would happen. For all his time working on school- people didn't become astronauts on failing grades- he seemed to have the worst luck with homework. It was only thanks to Jazz's help and some extraordinary paranoia about being cautious that he had managed to turn in most of his assignments since Kindergarten. And the_ _ **one**_ _time he had forgotten to save the document after every paragraph- in **years** \- had to be the time his dad decided to forcefully move him away from his computer and down the stairs._

" _Dad-" Danny sucked in a breath as he tripped in a particularly jarring fashion and his teeth clicked down harshly just shy of his tongue. He winced at the throb of a soft burn; the tell-tale sign that he'd managed to strip an outer layer of something- probably skin and/or taste buds- off his tongue. "What are you doing?" He breathed out quickly when they reached the first floor of the house._

 _Immediately, Jack Fenton erupted into an unintelligible mimic of spoken English, practically bursting at the seams in boyish excitement. Danny faintly picked out the words "portal" and "complete", but they sounded more like "morthal" and "vunplit", so he wasn't sure if he'd heard correctly. Danny gave up on communication and instead focused on attempting to escape the vice-tight grip on his shoulder. His left hand was going numb. Certainly not a good sign. He was, after years of similar situation practice, typically fairly skilled at escaping his father's or his mother's ghost-invention-induced-excitement-death-grip, but today was apparently not a good day for it. Danny allowed himself to be dragged down the steps into the lab and then firmly planted his feet on the floor. His father's forward momentum pulled him along, but the angle forced him to fall towards the ground and Jack released him in surprise. With reflexes only a child of two ghost hunters could have, Danny's hands shot out and he caught himself with relative ease, sliding his feet forward to propel himself to standing once more._

 _He looked around, doing a quick scan of the lab. He typically avoided this place- the sixth or seventh explosion had taught him ectoplasm-related objects equals extreme danger- but he knew it well enough from the number of times he had been tested to see if he still remembered how to dismantle, create, and fire an ecto-weapon. Or "useless, hazardous tools that would only cause chaos and place us in constant danger" as Jazz so fondly referred to them as._

 _Speaking of his sister, she was currently half-glaring at him; the "oh, duh" that was the rest of her expression informing him that she had not thought to use the same method of escape that he had- as evidenced by the delicate, gloved hand of their mother still pinned to her shoulder._

" _Good, you're here Danny." Maddie Fenton greeted him enthusiastically, a touch of her professional tone seeping into her voice. Danny felt his stomach fill with dread. Uh-oh, they'd completed some crazy invention again and wanted them to see it and somehow, someway it would go off and he and Jazz would be running for the hills just like normal._

 _Danny quickly checked over the lab once more, paying special attention to just about everything. The lab, which his mother usually tried to keep in order, was a disastrous mess. His parents, while excited, had rumpled clothes and shadows under their eyes- they'd been up for a while. Actually, now that he thought about it, he'd had leftovers for dinner twice in a row and hadn't seen his parents since before school yesterday. So, roughly a few hours short of two days now? Beakers were turned over and cracked; substances that Danny would be careful to stay three feet away from at all times splattered across the walls and floor. The tables and counters were equally as filthy and Danny felt himself pale at the sight of some of the rather sharp and lethal-looking tools scattered around. In fact, the only clear space in the lab was around the massive hallway-like "portal" that had been his parents' obsession for a long, long time. Danny blinked at the sight of it and inwardly groaned. The missing panels were gone now and the loose wires had vanished- presumably into the wall. They had finished constructing the_ _ **Ghost Portal**_ _of all things. An unwilling sense of tension built in him. He'd always had a sketchy feeling around the massive machine, but looking at it now… even without the wires and gaps, it looked like a monster's maw ready to snap him up and swallow him whole. The thing was deep enough that the end was cast in shadow. Danny was fairly certain that their house was neither long enough nor wide enough for that to physically possible. Looked like laws were nothing in the face of scientific advancement._

 _At the same time, he was eager to see it work. His parents had always gone on and on about ghosts and Danny knew more about them than he'd ever cared to. So, it only made sense that he had developed a sort of fascination/interest with the supernatural. Jazz made a point of avoiding it- to the extent of never watching or reading anything to do with the undead. Danny, on the other hand, had spent portions of his free time scrolling the internet reading up on ghosts, watching videos about supposed hauntings and such, and even offered advice on a tweak or two when his parents hit a rut in their inventions. Being a genius was a family trait apparently and, while he certainly was no inventor, he spent far too much time studying everything NASA related to not understand some of the things his parents built._

 _However, both he and Jazz stared blank-faced at the blueprint Maddie and Jack sat them in front of to explain the portal. Danny had already studied the whole structure- damn his curiosity- and understood enough to get the general idea. It ripped a hole to another dimension. Done. He really didn't need to have his head chock-full of ghost mumbo-jumbo when he went back upstairs to rewrite his paper. It would be difficult enough as is._

 _Besides, as much as he hoped it would work for his parents' sake, he doubted it would._

"… _and now, for the most important event since the creation of fudge!" Jack announced dramatically, somehow seeming professional despite the fudge comment- one of the mysterious abilities only Jack Fenton could possess._

 _Danny snapped out of his stupor, paying earnest attention now. A nervous knot of excitement and wariness built up in him. Jazz, despite her protest to all things ghostly, seemed to be feeling similarly to him. She may disapprove of their ghost obsession, but she still cared enough to hope things worked out well for them when they got this excited about something._

 _Danny's breath caught in his throat as the two ends of the plug quickly drew closer together until with a soft snap, the fit into one whole piece. The portal hummed and Danny swore he felt a chill run through the air, but just as quickly sparks shot out of the tunnel and the humming ended abruptly, falling to silence._

 _Danny gaped, open mouthed at the portal, disbelief shattering through his previous emotions. This was a first. And quite possibly the worst. His parents always had inventions they favored and those_ _ **always**_ _worked. Sure, the portal had been difficult and not worked quite right before, but Danny knew his parents were only this excited because they knew without a doubt that they'd finally gotten everything perfect._

 _And it didn't work._

 _Their favorite project since college- and they'd gotten a portal working then, or so they said- and it_ _ **didn't work**_ _._

" _Mom, dad…" Jazz's gentle voice broke the silence first, obviously attempting to comfort them. Danny couldn't bring himself to meet his parents' distraught expressions. He flinched slightly as they didn't respond, but slowly left the lab instead. This was bad._

* * *

His thoughts then had been right: it was bad. Neither his mom nor his dad had even glanced in the direction of the basement since the portal failure. No endless chatter on ghosts and fudge, no sparking equipment on the table. Nothing. In fact, when was the last time he'd had a conversation that lasted more than one word with either of them? He hadn't been concerned at first, they typically got a little downtrodden when something didn't work despite some of their best efforts, but this was new. And worrying.

"..ny. Danny!"

Said teen jolted at the sound of his name and tilted his head into the couch to look at an upside down Sam. A pinch of pain between his eyes instructed him to flip over and he quickly obeyed. Blood-rush headaches were always the worst.

"Huh?" Danny asked intelligently, quickly scribbling down the answer to number ten.

"You've just been staring at the ceiling. You all right, dude?" Tucker spoke up, brow creased in faint concern.

"Yeah." Danny answered in a huff of indecisive air before adding, "It's just… ever since the portal didn't work mom and dad have been acting weird. I haven't even heard the word 'ghost' since then."

"They usually bounce back faster than that." Sam commented, lowering her paper slowly.

Danny nodded in agreement, blue eyes drifting once more toward the lab stairs. "I just don't get why it didn't work in the first place. I'm no ghost expert, but mom and dad only act that excited when they finally know they have things _perfect_."

"We could always go check it out if it's bothering you that much. Maybe they forgot to flip the switch to 'ON'." Tucker snorted, referencing Danny's usual complaint that his parents always overlooked the tiny things in their rush on their favorite projects.

"Tuck." Danny narrowed his eyes in warning and Tucker raised his hands in the universal gesture of surrender.

"Okay, bad joke. Sorry. But seriously, man, if this is messing with your head that much, let's go look at it."

"Actually…" Sam spoke up slowly, "That sounds pretty cool. Imagine if we got it working. We could meet a real ghost!"

Danny frowned at the eager glint that he had learned to recognize. "Uh-uh. No. Not a chance. I'm not allowed to bring anyone whose name does not end in 'Fenton' down there. Absolutely not." It was the one rule he wouldn't break, not even for these two. It _was_ incredibly dangerous down there. He avoided it for a lot of reasons, but danger was definitely at the top of the list. And when he did go in the lab, he was constantly reciting the safety rules that had been drilled into his head since birth. Rule number one was literally "No person whose name does not end in Fenton is allowed into the basement/lab area." He would know. He'd actually had to write it on a sheet of paper seventy-five times for three years at least once a month. Not to mention the occasional shout of "Rule number one?" that had to be answered exactly and immediately.

So why he had caved to Sam's pestering and was currently leading his best friends down into the lab could only be labeled as "insanity". He had finally gone crazy after years of ghosts and haywire experiments.

"Woah." Sam and Tucker chorused, peering into the silent portal.

"Okay, I'll admit it. That's actually really cool." Sam spoke up, tracing the edge of the portal with one hand.

"Great, great. You've seen it. Happy now? Can we _please_ get out of here?" Danny hissed anxiously, skittishly pacing the lab. He was getting an odd feeling that was making the hair on the back of his neck stand up. The portal gaped ominously at him and he swore it was somehow watching his movements. Why the heck did he feel so… drawn to the thing? He sort of wanted to go inside and check it out, but…

"Can we check it out? Y'know, the inside?" Tucker asked, taking one step toward the dark machine.

"Stop!" Danny snapped, eying the both of them warily. From their expressions, he would be hard-pressed to get them to leave without at least one person checking out the inside of the machine. And he wasn't about to let two teenagers- even if they his best friends- who knew nothing about ghost tech wander inside. Danny snatched a jumpsuit from the rack on the wall- the one made for him, "contamination" and all that- and zipped it on, edging uncertainly toward the machine. His curiosity was really getting the best of him now. He could only hope his parents never found out.

"Be careful, Danny." Sam said quietly, nervous concern coating her tone. But of course, it wasn't a "don't be stupid, let's go back upstairs."

Danny half-nodded, his mind more focused on the portal than her words. Now that he was standing just inside of it and had a better angle of the lighting, he could see it wasn't as long as he initially thought. The walls were constructed of a series of smooth panels bolted together, wiring faintly visible by the tiny slits that circled the machine. Danny's gaze swept from one side to the other as he shivered slightly. The portal had an eerie blue glow to it, like it _was_ connected to something, but wasn't ready to turn on. He frowned. There was a distinct sense that something was missing. Something very important. But what on earth could be telling him that?

 _Maybe your sixth sense that's going haywire right now?_

Danny shoved down the tiny voice in his head, but took a hesitant step to the side, nearer to the wall. Standing in the middle felt too… exposed. And was he imagining it, or was there a faint hum coming from the walls again? The portal seemed… content… waiting for him to do something. But what?

Danny frowned and blinked at a sudden sense of terror that washed over him. It vanished as quickly as it had come, but he was certainly unsettled now. He drew in a shaky breath and moved farther down the tube-like structure again, stepping carefully over a thick cable coiled across the ground. He frowned. Was this supposed to be left out? He reached for the wall for some support, his nerves too rattled for him to feel secure in standing on his own.

Danny barely registered the sense of doom that hit him full in the face when the wall _clicked_ under his hand and he turned to see a button labeled "ON" being pressed down by his hand. Danny's eyes widened in horror just as a massive roar swept through the portal and the deafening sound of electricity sparking to life and machinery reacting in a complicated pattern to access a different dimension thundered into his ears. The first flicker of green light hit him in the shoulder and a moment later a searing pain tore through his cells.

A blinding flash of white and suddenly all Danny could see was green and pain. His entire frame shook and burned, agony coursing through his veins. His jaws wrenched themselves apart in a blood-curdling scream that didn't sound human to his own ears. A thousand sharp knives dug through his skin over and over again, tearing his very DNA to shreds. Freezing cold washed over him, melding with the burning electricity in a way his mind didn't think was possible. Somehow, a tiny rational part of his brain scream at him to get away from all of this pain and to try and figure out what was happening. Maybe if he took his hand of the button?

Bad idea. The machine apparently hadn't finished starting up and was waiting for just that. His arm seared with pain as he moved it away from the button and the portal beeped a few times in acknowledgment of his actions. Danny couldn't stop screaming at this point, even though it hurt to even breathe. He felt like he was slowly being burnt to ashes while the cold part of him stayed whole to force him to feel every ounce of pain. His hand was the first to go, disintegrating into eternal numbness while an ever-increasing wave of torture struck him in the gut. Next went his arm and then his left side. And finally, after he was sure he had completely being incinerated, the pain faded for a brief moment.

" _Danny!"_ Sam's terrified shriek reached his ears and his eyes snapped open to a fresh burst of agony. But this time he felt like he was being reconstructed molecule by molecule, only for whoever was toying with his cells to be dissatisfied by the results and start all over again.

 _I have… to get… out_.

The end of the pain was right there. That little window where Sam and Tucker were standing, frozen in desperate horror. He could make it, right? One step. First, right foot.

Danny let out an unearthly howl at the sensation that tore up his leg to the rest of him. Pain, _agony_ … nothing described it. It was pure and simple torture. Nothing but the aggravated cycle of nerves informing him that he was in a great deal of danger.

Now his left foot.

Did he scream that time? He couldn't tell. The world was starting to spin away from him.

Right foot.

Did the little window have to be so far? He was so _tired_.

Left foot.

But everything hurt.

Right foot.

What was hurt again?

Left foot.

Why did life always feel like pain? Why couldn't it be gentle? Like… a pillow?

Right foot.

Wait. Were pillows gentle? He couldn't remember.

Left foot.

 _Danny!_

Right foot.

Who was screaming? And was someone crying? Why?

Left foot.

It bothered him, the loud sobs. Something told him that person shouldn't be crying.

Right foot.

But who was that?

Left foot.

Sam. Tucker.

Everything went dark.

* * *

 **I initially had a long thing here, but it's no longer relevant. Southwest found and mailed my tablet so i feel a lot better now that I have it back. I'm still going to wait on the update- I feel really shaken about the whole thing, but I'll get to it sooner now. For those of you with no clue what I'm talking about: don't worry about it. All you need to know is that this is a "recovery fic" for me because I've been stressed and need to start something new. I don't have it all written out unlike my other stories, because I want to take my time 'n' stuff.**

 **On another note, I do want to point out that Danny's character- obviously since this is an AU- will change somewhat. Can't say I didn't warn you.**

 **I'm also dying trying to find cover art for this story. It's painful, man. Painful. I hate having a story without cover art. Especially since I'm really trying to make this a nice and long, entertaining story. And that deserves good cover art!**

Edited: 5/11/2015  



	2. Chapter 2

Breath of Life – Chapter 2  
 _A Whole New Zone  
_

The first thing Danny noticed was the alternating stabbing and throbbing pains across his form that rudely dragged him from blissful unconsciousness. His bones felt like lead weights and his muscles occasionally twitched in some poor copy of movement. At the same time, he had never felt lighter. Like he was walking in air.

 _Oh great. What hit me that hard?_ Danny groaned inwardly, concerned for his sanity at this point. He slowly opened his eyes, scowling at the effort it took. Now he wasn't exactly fit, but this was ridiculous. Did Dash throw him off the school ro-?

Danny stopped dead in his tracks, eyes widening as he bolted up in a mostly straight position, a strangled gasp of surprise and pain tangling its way past his lips. He was not at home anymore. Unless Fenton Works had become an endless green space full of floating object and hundreds of doors overnight. Danny shivered in response to the fear clawing its way up his spine. Where was he?

 _I knew I should have listened to my instincts._ Danny growled at himself, _but no. No, I had to waltz into the dangerous invention_. His instincts rarely led him astray and this is what he got for not listening to them: he ended up in some…

"Some what?" Danny frowned at the thought. He had walked into the Ghost Portal and then-. Danny closed his eyes and shook his head sharply, actually grateful for the nausea that chased away the memories. Right. That happened.

"So, what? Am I dead?" He huffed and then rolled his eyes. "Actually, that's fairly likely." He snapped out sarcastically, running a hand through his white hair.

Wait. White hair? He grasped his bangs, tugging them into better view. Yup. Definitely white. His gaze drifted down to his hand, wrapped in a silvery glove, and then to the rest of his outfit. Danny shouted at the sight of a lack of ground beneath his feet, instinctively scrabbling backwards. He only ended up literally spiraling backwards in dizzying circles.

 _Okay, Fenton. Think!_ Danny thought sternly, focusing on his frantically beating heart. _Well that's weird._ He blinked down at the black jumpsuit stretched across his torso. So there went his theory that he was dead. Or did ghosts have heartbeats? And mom always went on about how they most likely didn't feel pain and _he_ sure hurt right now. He pushed the thoughts away. He had to focus on how to figure out where he was and what to do next. He could stare at himself later. _If_ he was really a ghost. It was the best guess he had at the moment and he wasn't too keen to argue with it.

First rule of survival, know your surroundings. Right? Maybe he should have memorized the few dozen survival books his mother had stuck under his nose. Oh well, too late now. The only issue with that was that he couldn't _move_. He was just floating in place.

Wait. Floating. Duh.

Danny resisted the urge to cause self-harm by introducing his hand to his face- now he was spending too much time around Jazz, yay for him- and tentatively tried to move forward. His body responded in kind and he lurched quickly to his right before managing to halt himself. This would take some getting used to. He was _flying_. Definitely weird.

 _But_ , he thought as he tested shifting his weight some, _sort of cool_. Danny grinned as he managed to arc to his left in a smooth pattern. Scratch that. Really cool. He should have zapped himself with the portal sooner. This was awesome! Flying felt… free. He flew a couple of sloppy loops and practiced turning. It was a bit strange to have what direction he went in _not_ be controlled by where he put his foot. Or some outside force a.k.a. Dash. He did feel really light, but it was somehow easier to shift in the direction he wanted to go just by altering his weight placement. It was difficult and he had no doubt his flight pattern was unsteady, but flying _himself_ was different than a space shuttle.

And possibly more thrilling.

As the exhilaration of the discovery wore off, he was reminded of the throbbing pain in his _everywhere_ and he slowed to an easy pace. He drifted through the endless maze of doors, objects, and rocks, spotting what looked like full on buildings or even floating islands in the distance. The plane that he'd flown through had been interesting though. It was an older model, probably from a couple decades ago. The tears and twisted metal scorched black showed that this was one of the planes that went missing after a crash. Well. Nice to know where to look for survivors next time.

Danny paled and shivered at the thought. Imagine being stuck in the Ghost Zone without knowing what was happening and with no hope of rescue as the days dragged by... He _was_ in the Ghost Zone, right? It would make sense that the portal sent him here- it was supposed to connect to this place anyway. It would also explain why he was evidently a ghost.

"Great. I _died_." Danny scowled. For some reason, it didn't upset him quite as much as it should have. Technically, he could go back through the portal- right?- and explain things to Sam and Tucker and… oh no. His _parents_. Would they even let him explain? Would they still accept him? Would they try to force him to "move on" so he wasn't stuck as a "putrid pile of ectoplasm"?

Danny took a long gulp of air and forced himself to focus. He did not have the time to worry about that right now. He would… tackle that problem when necessary. For now he had to find a way back… and to figure out if he actually was dead. He didn't know how far into the Ghost Zone the portal had shot him, but he hadn't seen any way back when he woke up.

Maybe… maybe he could find a nice ghost that would help him out? Danny snorted in disbelief. Right. _Hi, other ghost. See, I died today opening this portal to the human realm. Can you help me find my way back so I can explain to my friends and family what happened?_

He was already crazy as a person, did he have to have the same rep as a ghost?

Danny scowled at the air. He had _no idea_ what to do next. Find a way home was his only plan. Really. And then what? Could ghosts stay in the human world? _Should_ he? Or what if the portal closed and he was stuck here? Would his parents want him to stay? If he was a ghost… he would outlive them, wouldn't he?

Danny drifted to a stop, a pang of grief striking him. That was right, wasn't it? Mom and dad had always said ghosts couldn't die. They could be destroyed with a lot of effort, but they never died.

 _Enough_. Danny told himself sharply. He'd been letting his thoughts wander too much. One problem at a time.

His mind lapsed into silence as he continued to drift around, eyes scanning for a way out- not that he quite knew what he was looking for. He passed yet another floating rock covered in strange, glowing fauna and glared at a particularly vivid red plant. He was definitely lost now. Danny turned slowly to analyze his closest surroundings. Aside from the island next to him, the number of doors had drastically thinned out. He could see a small purple speck in the distance, but most of the objects around him were old and worn real world objects and chunks of glowing rubble. However, he would be hard-pressed to miss the massive mountain range-like structure in front of him. Atop it rested a city that resembled something Greek- probably Athens if he remembered correctly. Oddly, it had touches of Roman décor scattered along the buildings.

Danny hesitated, eyes scanning the ghostly city uncertainly. He definitely needed help… maybe there would be someone here? His parents always went on and on about how evil ghosts were, but somehow he could only compare that idea to saying every cat was black. It didn't make any sense. Besides, he was exhausted and hurt all over, he had a throbbing headache and his thoughts were starting to slip apart again. Rushes of dizzying weakness kept creeping up on him and he was starting to feel like he had a fever. If he didn't either find help or get out of here soon, he was going to pass out.

The now white-haired teen slowly approached the base of the "mountains", angling himself closer to the ground. He had barely touched the ground when his knees gave out, sending a new stretch of needle-like pain through his skeleton. Ow. When did his bones stop having the function of "bodily support"?

"I can't believe I'm saying this," Danny gasped to himself as he shoved himself back to his feet, cringing at the aches that stabbed at his nerves, "but I need to find a ghost.

Right on cue, a low snarl from the side had him slowly turning on the spot. _I forgot I have terrible luck there for a minute. Who else accidentally hits the ON button in a one-of-a-kind Ghost Portal and ends up in the Ghost Zone?_ _Well, at least the world is here to remind me_. A massive, two-headed lizard-like creature towering over at least twice his own height while standing on all fours prowled its way over to him. Its scales were an ugly yellow color with a greenish hue that reminded Danny of the "sky" of the Ghost Zone. It eyes were completely white, but he would have to argue that the teeth and claws as long as his forearm and then some were the most terrifying features the lizard ghost possessed. If this is what they turned into when people killed them on accident while having fun, Danny would make sure to help Sam with her next "save the wildlife!" project.

 _Hey, Danny._

What?

 _You know what sounds intelligent right now?_

Nope.

 _Three letters? Maybe an exclamation point?_

Jam?

 _That's a question mark._

Okay, so "Jam!" Why?

 _No, you idiot. RUN!_

Danny decided to listen to the voice in his head and bolt just as the lizard snapped at him, jaws clashing in a sound that reminded him of a Hollywood movie. _Just run!_ The voice continued to scream at him and Danny couldn't find the energy to shut it up. He sort of felt like he was being ripped apart again. Flying had been so _easy_ compared to this, but he'd already tried jumping and that hadn't been successful to kick-start his ability to fly. And he _really_ doubted he had time to figure it out right now.

There was a massive explosion just to his left and Danny cried out as debris burst outward, tiny shards digging into his skin while the larger rocks bruised and scratched open his already throbbing side and back. The force knocked him forward and Danny tumbled head over heels, hitting his head hard on the root of some plant. The world briefly turned black and he panicked, knowing his eyes were still open. Color came back into focus, but he squeezed his eyes shut at a pinching pain behind them and blindly reached out with one hand, scrabbling for a purchase. He cried out when his hand finally snagged something solid and he gripped it tightly, painfully forcing his momentum to a halt as his arm jarred in its socket. Danny panted heavily, the world literally tipping and spinning in his vision. It didn't matter if he was actually dead now- he was going to be torn apart by a giant lizard ghost. What a way to go. In all honesty, he'd more or less been thinking that the worst-case scenario for him would be a hole blown in the spaceship he was in and then being sucked out into the vacuum of space without any hope for survival. Apparently not.

A burning sensation, different than before, swept through him and Danny both tensed and relaxed. It prickled painfully, but it was soothing at the same time- warm and _familiar_. A white ring formed at his waist and split into two, one going up and one going down. Danny froze in shock as the inverted jumpsuit he had been wearing was replaced with- oddly enough- his normal clothes. His skin went back to its original shade and his hair had turned black once more.

What. The. Hell.

 _I'm not dead? Or am I half dead?_

A scaled paw thudded down next to him.

 _Never mind. I'm dead._

Danny tensed, preparing to meet his end- he could _feel_ the hot breath on his back- when the lizard suddenly shrieked and Danny's eyes widened at the sight of the massive creature being tossed through the air. It skidded over the rock and clashed with the edge of the island before toppling over the edge. Danny's breath caught in his throat. _Is it dead?_ The lizard reappeared, arcing rapidly away from the island with a cry of fear. Right. Ghost. Flying.

Danny turned his head to see a tall woman with blue skin, red eyes, pink hair, and four arms dressed in a gold and black mix of Greek battle gear and clothing glaring at the direction the lizard was fleeing in. As soon as it was out of sight, she looked down at him.

 _"Estis qui iure?"_

"What?" Danny replied intelligently, still recovering from his shock. Well. At least he wasn't dead. A cool spark ran through his fingers at that thought and he felt the chill he could now associate with his ghost half, or whatever it was.

"Are you alright, child?" The woman asked again, this time in English.

"Er… sort of." Danny answered truthfully, "But no."

Obviously the ghost understood what he meant, because he was suddenly swept up into a cradle of her two bottom arms.

"Thanks." He added quietly.

The ghost didn't reply, but Danny was fairly certain he'd seen the briefest smile cross her expression.

* * *

Danny sat quietly as Pandora- he'd finally worked up the courage to ask his rescuer for her name- tended to the gash on his knee. It was deeper than he'd noticed and he sincerely doubted he would've been able to keep walking if he had somehow managed to get out of the lizard mess on his own. Although painful, it was worth it to see this place.

Athens- well, Pandora's ghost version of it, anyway- was a magnificent sight. The city itself was hidden inside a protective maze and nestled into a valley among the mountains. It was crafted from glowing marble and more ancient stones he couldn't name, although he was willing to bet some of them only existed in the ghost zone. Colorful plants twisted throughout the city, adding life to even the most hidden corners. The palace Pandora had brought him to had taken center stage, however. It was raised high above the other building and was ringed with massive pillars. Creatures Danny had only ever read in mythology had patrolled along its length, pausing to bow respectfully to the four-armed ghost. It was crested with gold, mosaics that shifted through images every so often decorating the walls. Natural light glittered through the curved ceiling, but carved torches lined the walls; waiting to be lit at nightfall.

Danny tried and failed to keep back a yawn, a tired shudder pushing through his frame. Now that the shock from his recent experiences had worn off, his mind felt fuzzy and disconnected from his surroundings and his body was demanding rest. His aches had dulled into soft throbs that only pulsed when he moved the wrong way; although, that might have been because of the glowing violet cream Pandora had applied after asking where exactly he hurt the worst.

"Now then," Pandora said as she straightened, "I'm done. If you start to hurt again later, tell me and I'll see if we have anything else that could help." She told him as she turned and handed the cream back to a green-skinned maiden. They were sitting in a large, silver and blue-hued room that held a royal red-sheeted bed and a few dark dressers that actually looked like they were made out of wood. A door across the room led to a bathroom that was larger than all of the ones in Fenton Works put together.

"Later?" Danny echoed, blinking in surprise. She was letting him stay? For what? How long? Was she really just going to help him out?

"Yes, _spiritum puer_. I would have you stay until you are healed, at the very least." Pandora nodded, "I can see that you are tired. Rest here for now."

" _Spiritum puer_?" Danny repeated with a puzzled frown, "What does that mean? Why are you helping me? I mean, I appreciate it, but… why?"

Pandora gave a barely noticeable sigh, "I am helping you because you are _spiritum puer_. As for what that means, I will tell you after you rest. I fear you have had more than enough surprises for today."

Danny studied the ghost for a moment, doubting that some stranger would just help him for… whatever she had said. He wasn't anything special, but the way she had- wait.

" _Spiritum puer_. Does that have anything to do with whatever that ghost… form… thing I was in- er, was before?" He asked cautiously and knew he was right when he spotted Pandora's resigned expression.

"Yes, it does. However, I am not best suited to explain it to you and… we will both have some choices to face quite soon. Rest now and we will see where things go when you wake." Pandora said gently, obviously thinking through her words.

Danny nodded and she turned to leave, but before she could reach the door he blurted out, "Will you help me get home? Back to the human world?"

He immediately clamped his mouth shut, eyes widening in horror. What was wrong with him? Just because she was helping him _now_ didn't mean-

"If that is what you wish, then yes." Pandora answered and Danny stared, stunned.

"Why?"

"Because you have been forced into something I have only seen on one other… and it did not turn out well for him."

She was gone before he could ask what she meant, leaving him blinking at the answerless door. Danny watched for another minute, part of him hoping she would come back, but when it became clear that wasn't going to happen he reluctantly walked over to the bed, pulling off his shoes. He climbed under the sheets, analyzing the wall as his mind wandered through thoughts about the day.

He briefly wondered what Tucker and Sam were doing right now. He'd been gone for so long they probably thought he was dead. Er, maybe they were right. But would Pandora be helping him go back to the human world if that was the case? And his parents always said no ghost remembered their previous life after death.

So he was alive, right?

* * *

 **Not quite as long as the previous chapter, but it needs to end here. I'm trying to stick to roughly ten pages per chapter and this is only seven so maybe I'll write thirteen for the next one or something. Alright, anyway:**

 **Kimera20-** Thanks so much! :D That means a lot to me. I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter.

" **Guest"** \- No worries, there's a beautiful thing called "Google Translate" XD and thanks for bothering to review anyway :) Thanks for your support. I'm glad you enjoyed my writing style and I hope this chapter held up to it.

 **I am only going to do this once, because it's annoying do it every chapter. To make my point, caps lock time:**

 **DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN** _ **DANNY PHANTOM**_ **OR ANY OF ITS CHARACTER. THE PLOT AND THIS STORY BELONGS TO ME.**

 **Phew.**

 **See all of you next chapter!**

Edited: 6/14/2015


	3. Chapter 3

Breath of Life – Chapter 3  
 _Columba_

 _It seems life is never easy._ Pandora mused as she studied the box resting on the pedestal in the otherwise empty room. _Her_ box and _her_ responsibility. She could never let anyone else get ahold of it unless she wished for havoc and darkness to be unleashed upon the waking world. With this weight on her shoulders she was no stranger to burdens, but the decision she was facing now seemed far more daunting.

Danny, as he had slurred out in his tired and pained introduction, was the source of her dilemma. Pandora was perfectly aware of his half-ghost status. Only one other person shared the poor teen's state and everyone in the Ghost Zone avoided him when they could. Vlad Plasmius was lonely and full of bitter pain, consumed by his anger and twisted into a vile person. Pandora feared the same thing would happen to the young halfa in his vulnerable state. Not only must he adjust to his new life, but he would have to learn to control his new abilities- and from what she knew, that was a far more difficult process for half-ghost humans than a full ghost. If he slipped up in the human world… well, most humans did not look favorably upon ghosts.

And he reminded her of someone she had known a long, long time ago. The world had not been kind to him either and Pandora did not want to see another young soul swallowed up. But, in order to prevent that, she would have to watch over the ghost child. She _could_ let him go back to the human world and try to keep him safe from here, but it would be difficult to keep his existence a secret and train him at the same time. Many ghosts would treat him just as terribly as the humans would; especially with their experiences with the _other_ halfa in their minds. He would be a problem as well- Pandora could not let him discover Danny's existence. With how unstable he was nowadays… she couldn't determine how he would react.

Her other option would be to keep Danny here, raise him herself. It would be difficult and in all honesty she wasn't sure she should. After what had happened to Almarak…

Pandora closed her eyes briefly, pushing away her train of thought. No, she would watch after him. What had happened to Almarak only proved her point that she should care for the boy until he was ready to be left on his own once more. The immense changes in his life of becoming a half-ghost had reduced his knowledge of his world- _worlds_ , now- to that of a toddler's without him even knowing. He had many people to hide from until he was capable to survive on his own and much to learn. Where else safest to stay except her own kingdom? With Pariah Dark sealed away and the ghosts left to their own, Pandora had quickly made it clear that she ruled her own territory under her own laws until a new King arose. Even Walker had learned not to challenge her authority in Athens.

Of course, all of this was moot unless Danny chose to stay with her. She would explain her own opinion and then leave it up to the young halfa. She could only hope he would make the right decision.

* * *

"Sam…?" Said Goth slowly tilted her head up until her amethyst eyes could see her partially open door. She was curled up on her bed, still dressed in her clothes from the day before and her hair tangled wildly from lack of care. Her spine ached from being pressed into the wood of her headboard for so long, but she couldn't find it in herself to care.

Tucker crept into her room, his own state pitifully similar to her own. The two of them had been separated and taken home by their parents when Mr. and Mrs. Fenton had ran down into the lab after hearing them screaming. Neither teen had managed to get a word out before Jack and Maddie had pulled them away from the portal saying something about it being dangerous. When Sam had finally choked out the words "Danny" and "where" the two ghost hunters had called their parents, obviously concerned about them and saying Danny was probably just upstairs. It had taken the entire thirty minutes it took for their parents to arrive for Sam to get them to understand that Danny had been inside the portal when it turned on. She never saw what happened afterwards, since both of them had been taken home.

"You okay?" Tucker's voice carried over to her, cracking somewhat. She heard him sigh when she didn't reply and walked over to her. "Look… Mr. and Mrs. Fenton are here. They want to talk about… yesterday."

Sam looked fully up at him at that, an unreadable expression crossing her face. "Alright." She whispered after a moment, allowing Tucker to help her up. Inwardly she was praying for good news, but… those screams. _Danny's_ screams… they'd been so terrible- like he was dying.

Tucker's expression mirrored her own and Sam felt a sudden rush of gratitude for her best friend. He could have easily stayed at home, curled up like she was, but instead he came out to get her out of her room. "I… he's fine, right?" Sam whispered after a moment, showing a rare moment of weakness. Tucker remained silent, watching her sympathetically. Sam took it as a wakeup call and walked down the stairs to the massive living room. She hesitated for a moment; her resolve almost cracking at the sight of the defeated expression of Danny's parents.

"Hey, kids." Jack called to them as Tucker appeared behind her, his voice an echo of attempted excitement. Sam breathed in sharply and sat down on the couch opposite the two Fentons. Tucker sat down beside her while her parents sat down on the third couch. For once, neither Manson had an expression of disgust, but rather one of pity directed towards the Fentons.

Sam waited quietly as Maddie took a moment to collect herself, visibly distraught. "We ran some tests on the portal." Maddie began, her tone clipped and professional, "The start-up sequences were smooth, but there is an unknown factor in the data. We mirrored the power up and removed the unknown factor and while the math came back positive, the portal data said it would have failed." Her tone wavered and Sam heard grief filter into it, "The unknown factor matched up to a recent study done on 'Fresh Ecto-Energy'. F.E.E. is the initial 'life' of a ghost, the beginning of it. It goes through several stages to become Stable Ectoplasm and then forms a ghost." She paused again, eyes drifting to the floor and her professional tone faded away, "There was an oddity in this reading. The F.E.E. never fully formed. It just stopped mid-process. From what we can tell, that means that in order for a portal to open…someone has to die. And this time around it was-"

Maddie halted, curling in on herself while covering her face with her hands, sobs wracking through her frame. Sam felt her own tears prick at her eyes, but she stubbornly refused to let them fall. This couldn't be right. Danny couldn't be _gone_ , could he? Her frozen mind faintly felt Tucker wrap a comforting arm around her, but she couldn't drag her focus away from the ghost hunters in front of her.

"We think he was totally vaporized. It's unlikely that a human can enter the Ghost Zone and nothing has come out of the portal, nor do the checks say there is… anything still inside. He's just… gone." Jack rasped flatly as he pulled his wife closer to him, rubbing soothing circles on her back. His gaze was blank, as though he was disconnected from the words he said.

Sam only nodded and stood stiffly; walking upstairs and ignoring the startled cries of her parents. Sam walked robotically back up the stairs, her mind both whirling and stuck in place. Shouts of blame- _You built the portal! It's your fault!_ \- and of guilt- _Well, maybe if you hadn't pressed him into checking it out he would still be alive!_ \- echoed in her head, but she shoved them down. It wouldn't be right to blame his parents. Danny would be furious if she did. And as much as she agreed it was her fault, she knew Danny would be just as furious if he knew she was blaming herself. She could already hear his counter-argument.

 _Well, it's my fault for being stupid. I always knew I had rotten luck. I should've known better than to go marching into a dangerous machine I'd been warned away from multiple times before._

She didn't even make it to her bed this time, simply dropping onto the floor after she closed the door. She could hear voices from downstairs; it sounded like an argument, but she couldn't bring herself to care. Her eyes drifted to her window, her mouth caught in a half-smile at the sight of it. She'd been in a situation like this once before, hadn't she?

* * *

 _Twelve-year-old Sam scowled at the wall as she rhythmically twisted a corner of her tangled sheets between her hands. It was dark outside- stars filling the sky so clearly that she was certain Danny had to be out on his roof staring at them- and she could still hear the shouts through the walls of her room. They were muffled so she couldn't make out the words anymore, but she knew what her parents were saying anyway. A ball of anger built in her chest, making it painful to breathe, as water stung at her eyes._

 _Her Aunt had died today. A car crash with a drunk driver. Aunt Belle had technically run a red light, but so had the other driver. Sam didn't know who it was, but he or she had ended up in the hospital. Both cars had skidded and flipped over, narrowly avoiding the oncoming traffic. They'd run right off the road onto the sidewalk, only coming to a stop when they hit a tree, nearly uprooting it with the force of impact._

 _Her parents were down there arguing with her grandmother about what to do with Aunt Belle's money. Grandma wanted to put a large portion of it towards a funeral and follow Belle's Will from there. Another large portion would go to her cousin Maxwell- the son Belle had adopted- and a small fund would go to Sam. A few items had been left to her parents, but most things were to be put into storage to wait for the younger kids._

 _Mr. and Mrs. Manson, however, wanted to only put in a small portion for a funeral- it was a waste of money to pour it down the drain for a casket, they had claimed. Maxwell would get what was left to him; although Sam was certain that was only because he was eighteen and they had no authority over it or him. The items Sam had received, however, they wanted control over as well as to be allowed to sell them. As far as they were concerned, they were unimportant antiques that would do nothing but serve as a distraction or "bitter reminder" of her Aunt. The pre-teen had gotten a glimpse at the items being given to her and already knew why her parents didn't want her to have them. Aunt Belle had never done anything but support Sam's "individualism" and most of what she had been given was Goth-based. Or at least, themed similarly. Some of them were actually antique gifts or things tied to memories. Sam had spotted the old pendant Belle had received on a trip to Africa among them. When she had been younger, she had pestered her aunt about it until Belle had promised that she could wear it when she came to visit._

 _As far as the money given to her... Sam's parents wanted it in a "trust fund" that they still had access to in case of emergencies. Grandma had suspected they'd been feeding off of Sam's allowance for years and had stubbornly refused. Instead, the account was to be made by her and only allowed to be accessed by Sam. Her parents argued back that she was a minor and so on and so forth._

 _Sam gripped the blanket tighter, blinking at her burning eyes. At least her grandmother was trying to convince her parents to focus on the funeral, but they didn't seem to care. Her mother's own_ _ **sister**_ _was dead and she was more focused on what to do with the wealth. She had argued with her mother about it early, but that only resulted in her being grounded. She just felt so… frustrated. Aunt Belle deserved better than this. She wasn't the safest driver- which was all her mother seemed to be able to sniff haughtily out when Belle was mentioned by name- but she was a kind woman with an adventurous streak. Both Sam and Maxwell loved her, but neither older Manson seemed to care._

 _Sam gasped and jolted out of her thoughts at the sound of rapping and she turned to the window, nearly leaping out of her bed in shock. Danny was balanced unsteadily on the edge of her windowsill, peering uncertainly in at her. He called something through the thick glass, but Sam just shook her head and tapped her ear as she hurried over to unlock and open the window. Danny quickly fell inside, shutting the window behind him to cut off the blast of cold air that had followed him in._

" _What are you doing here?" Sam hissed, surprised and worried. "Are you crazy? Do you know how much trouble you'll be in if either of our parents find out about this? And why were you climbing onto my windowsill? What if you fell?!" She wanted to shake the boy, who was just looking at her sheepishly and rubbing the back of his neck in an adorable manner._

" _Well… I figured you could use some company. I guessed that they would be, you know." He gestured helplessly at the door through which the arguing voices could be heard, "Cause I heard about Belle and it doesn't seem fair and I thought I could come over and-"_

 _Sam cut off his rambling by pulling him into a hug, burrowing her face into his shoulder. "Thank you." She breathed, unable to stop her trembling. He snuck out and risked his stupid self by climbing up the side of her house just to make sure she would be okay. He really was an idiot sometimes._

" _You okay?" Danny murmured, guiding them both to sit on the bed and allowing her to lean against his side._

" _Yeah." Sam answered quietly. "I'll be fine. It's just… why can't they stop for two seconds? Aunt Belle just…" She skipped over the word, unable to bring herself to say it, "and all they can do is focus on the money. She deserves better than that."_

" _Okay, but how are_ _ **you**_ _?" Danny asked again, shifting to meet her gaze. Sam smiled faintly at the serious concern in his blue eyes. It seemed too mature for his age._

" _I miss her." Sam whispered, feeling the tears pricking at her eyes again. Danny must have noticed, because he pulled her into a hug again. Sam struggled for a moment- she didn't want to be coddled, to cry- but finally gave it with a wave of grief._

" _She was always there, you know? Did I ever tell you about the time I got my head stuck in the railings over her staircase?" Sam asked. She knew she had- Tucker teased her incessantly about it- but for some reason she couldn't stop herself from rambling. "Mom and dad had gone on some trip with Nana and Aunt Belle was watching me. Maxwell and I were playing around and he dared me to try to fit my head between the bars, so I did. We were laughing about it until I realized I was stuck. Max freaked out about it, kept trying to pull me out until I told him I felt like my head was going to pop off if her kept doing that. Aunt Belle was outside so Max ran to get her and the first thing she did was laugh. I know that sounds terrible, but it felt so reassuring to know that she didn't think what I'd gotten myself into was anything terrible. She helped me get out and told me to be more careful next time and then took us all for ice cream to calm us down. It was so much fun."_

 _Danny just hummed a random tune in response, his hand tracing soothing patterns across her back. "She sounds nice. I wish I could have met her."_

" _I wish too." Sam replied softly, "You would have liked her. She loved outer space stuff too. It was another adventure to her. She probably couldn't list as many constellations, but she knew a few of them." Sam could feel a few tears escaping from her control and she tried to stop them. They were getting all over Danny's shirt._

" _Sam." Danny's voice called gently and she peered up at him, "You know, Jazz told me once that even if people don't like to, it's okay to cry. It just means you care."_

" _Stay?" Sam pleaded after a moment, feeling her control slipping. She felt silly for asking; he probably couldn't be gone for much longer- his parents would worry and she didn't want him to get in trouble. But, she didn't want to be alone right now either._

" _Of course." He replied simply, completely ignoring the reasoning she had come up with in her mind. It was as though he had torn down some mental dam she had built. The next thing she knew, she was sobbing into his shoulder like she was trying to cry out all the water she had in her. Through it all, Danny just ignored his dampening shirt and continued to comfort her._

 _Slowly, Sam began to run out of tears, her sobs reducing to hiccups. They fell into silence and Danny continued to trace peaceful trails onto her shoulder with his fingers._

" _Do… do you think Belle's in Heaven?" Sam asked suddenly and Danny's fingers paused. She couldn't quite bring herself to look up at him. She had made perfectly clear a long time ago that she was agnostic, so Heaven was sort of a moot point for her. Danny- whose parents were scientists- had grown up with the same mindset. However, Sam felt herself scrabbling for reassurance. She just couldn't accept that Belle had ceased to exist. She couldn't. She felt a brief wave of embarrassment for asking yet another odd thing, but Danny had spoken before she could say anything._

" _Do you know… what this is?" Danny asked as he moved his hand down to her forearm, causing her to look down. He traced the shape of a stiff Y with a crooked end on one arm. Sam shook her head wordlessly, watching as he continuously retraced the shape._

" _This is what the constellation Columba looks like." He continued, his voice quiet. "It's a dove. It is named for the dove that brought Noah an olive branch to tell him that land had been found. Now, it represents peace." He waited for a moment and Sam looked up at him. Danny was looking at the wall over her head, eyes unfocused in thought. "I like to believe that we all have a dove with us. Something that leads us where we're supposed to go." He blinked and met her gaze, a warm smile glowing in his eyes. "And I'm sure your aunt has one too."_

 _Sam felt herself smile for what she was sure had been the first time since hearing about Aunt Belle. "A dove, huh? Always with the norms."_

" _Yes. I'd be a little weirded out if I had a raven following me around." Danny teased, his eyes flickering briefly to the book of poems on her desk. She hadn't realized she'd left it open._

" _Surely a raven isn't so terrible. It would know the answer to: 'Is there-_ _ **is**_ _there balm in Gilead?- tell me- tell me, I implore!'" Sam replied sleepily. Danny had resumed tracing patterns on her back and the rhythmic movement combined with the warmth he was emitting was making her drowsy._

" _Nevermore." Danny quoted softly back, shifting her farther onto the bed so she was lying mostly on the sheets. His hands moved to begin gently untangling her hair, which had knotted itself together while she had been lying on her bed earlier._

 _The soothing ministrations soon lulled her almost to sleep; finally able to relax in the now quiet house. The sky outside had actually begun to lighten- or so she thought in her nearly-asleep haze- when Danny finally gently lowered her onto her pillow and slid off her bed. "Night, Sam. Sweet dreams. I'm sure Belle is watching over you." He whispered and she could feel him lightly brush stay hairs away from her eyes. "And I'll do the same. I promise." He murmured after a moment and Sam realized he through she was asleep. He had already vanished out the window before she could say anything._

* * *

Tucker glared in irritation at the four adults bickering in front of him. They were yelling loud enough that he thought his eardrums were going to burst. When Sam had marched out of the room, Mr. and Mrs. Manson had taken all of two seconds to blame the Fentons for upsetting their daughter too much. Tucker had initially been astonished, until he remembered that Sam had been raised to be the "perfect little lady"- or at least, Pamela _tried_ to raise her like that- and marching out of the room didn't match that image.

She had accused them of placing their daughter in risk of harm, which the Fentons hadn't argued with. And then Pamela had begun saying Danny was a bad influence. Tucker wasn't sure what pissed him off more: their insensitivity or their insensitivity. Not only were they ignoring their emotionally distraught daughter in favor of an argument, but they were also antagonizing grieving parents over a son who had died _yesterday_.

He was upset- no, he was a total _train wreck_ over… what had happened, but he knew he had to keep it together until he got home. He just appreciated that Mr. and Mrs. Fenton had taken the time to think about their son's friends in the midst of their own grief. It was Sam he was most worried about. Danny was his best friend and hearing that he'd died… Tucker felt like there was a hole where half of him should be. Sam, on the other hand, as much as she denied it, he _knew_ she liked Danny. Tucker never pressed much into their pseudo-relationship, but the two of them were close. He was the only one who could coax the real Sam- the one who had emotions and wasn't all Goth all the time- out into the open. Tucker had no clue how he did it, but he realized that now of all times, he needed to.

"If you hadn't built that stupid thing, your son wouldn't be dead!"

Tucker froze, his eyes widening in disbelief at Mrs. Manson. She hadn't _seriously_ just said that. He felt a pit of anger burn in his stomach and he narrowed his eyes. How _dare_ she!

"Enough!" Tucker barked out sharply, anger seething in his tone. The four adults turned to look at him in surprise, Maddie's heartbroken and angered retort cut off before she could begin. "Mr. and Mrs. Fenton, thank you." Tucker said quietly, his anger fading as he met the gazes of his best friend's parents. "For remembering Sam and I. I'm really sorry… about everything. It's my fault, honestly." He admitted staring at the ground, "Danny didn't want to take us down there, or even go in the stupid thing, but we just kept pestering him until he did. He'd told us before how dangerous those inventions are and… we didn't listen." His voice cracked. They never listened, did they? Rule number one: No person whose name does not end in "Fenton" is allowed into the lab. Oops.

 _Pretty big "oops"._ Tucker scowled inwardly, remembering the anxious, almost fearful expression Danny had worn when they were in the lab yesterday. Danny's instincts were so keen it was almost scary. Why hadn't they listened to him?

"It's not your fault, Tucker. You didn't know." Mrs. Fenton told him, but Tucker just shook his head and glanced towards the stairs. He should go up and see Sam. Make sure she was alright. This was Danny's biggest fear when it came to Sam, wasn't it? That he wouldn't be able to help her. Especially with something like this.

* * *

" _Okay, dude, I'll bite. Why do you look like you're about to pass out? I know you weren't playing Doomed all night- I was doing that. So what's up?" Tucker frowned as Danny blinked slowly at him, like he was trying to process what he had said._

" _I'm fine, Tuck. I was just up doing homework." The black-haired teen replied with a yawn and tried to go back to staring at the book they were supposed to be reading. He hadn't turned a page in the last ten minutes. Tucker dropped his pencil- he hated history anyway- and pulled the book away from his best friend, who complained and tried to snatch it back._

" _Hey, Tuck! What gives?" Danny whined, slumping tiredly against his bed and looking balefully at the Technogeek. "I have to finish the next two chapters."_

" _Right." Tucker snorted, "We have all the same classes this year, dude. I know you didn't have homework yesterday. What's really going on?" He put the book down, careful to keep the page- Danny had enough bad luck with homework- and peered suspiciously at the sulking teen. "Does this have anything to do with why Sam wasn't at school today?"_

 _Danny's answering groan let him know he was right on target. Tucker furrowed his brow worriedly, "What's wrong with Sam? Is she sick?" He doubted it. Sam would usually call both him and Danny if that was the case._

 _Danny eyed him for a moment and then sighed reluctantly. "Look, I'm not going to be very specific since I'm not the one who should be telling you, but Sam and her mom got into an argument yesterday."_

" _They get into arguments all the time." Tucker pointed out, leaning against the edge of the bed. "Really, all the time. Haven't you listened to her rant?"_

 _Danny scowled at him, "Are you listening?"_

 _Tucker raised his hands in surrender, "All right, I'll be quiet."_

" _They_ _ **do**_ _argue all the time," Danny conceded, "but sometimes it's… worse. I was over at Sam's all night. She's locked herself in her room today in protest and I'll probably head back again tonight. She's still really upset." He held up a finger warningly, "And before you ask, I won't tell you what about. You're my best friend, but so is Sam and I've kept secrets about you from her."_

 _Tucker nodded understandingly. That was true. They were all very close, but they still had their secrets. In fact, they might have gone crazy if they didn't. Really, they didn't need to be able to finish each others' sentences any more than they already could._

" _Still, can anything really upset_ _ **Sam**_ _that much? She's so… 'Miss Independent'." Tucker raised an eyebrow almost skeptically. He could see Danny chewing over his response._

" _Sam is… far more fragile than you think." He replied slowly, "She_ _ **is**_ _strong, but that doesn't mean she's not affected. It's always in the recovery when she needs the most help. She doesn't know how to cry on her own."_

 _Tucker blinked at him, turning his words over in his mind. "I… guess." He replied, handing the book back to Danny. They lapsed back into silence as Tucker returned to working on his history homework._

" _Hey, Tuck." He looked up to meet Danny's uncertain gaze, feeling an odd sensation run through him at his best friend's serious expression. "If… if one day I'm not here for Sam for some reason- not matter what that might be- you'll take care of her, right?"_

 _For once, Tucker found he couldn't make a lovebird joke. "Of course." He replied steadily. He'd always been here for both of them, "But I know you well enough to see you're not going anywhere."_

 _Danny chuckled in response, "I hope so. I'm not sure you two could keep from killing each other otherwise."_

" _Nah, Sam never harms anything with a face on it." Tucker replied._

" _Oh, really? I never asked, Tucker; what's it like being kicked by her?" Danny quipped._

" _Hey!" Tucker complained indignantly, "It's not my fault the ultra-recyclo-vegetarian is violent!"_

* * *

"Tucker?" Sam finally addressed him. He'd been standing by her door for the last few minutes, having already come in and shut it behind him. She was just sitting in the middle of the floor, staring at her window like she was expecting Danny to come through.

 _Which_ , he realized with a start, _she probably is_. Danny obviously couldn't waltz in through the door every time he visited Sam at night. He must have climbed in through the window. _It's like some modern-day Romeo and Juliet thing_. Tucker half-joked inwardly. It fit how odd their trio was anyway.

"He's gone, isn't he? He's really gone." Sam turned a little to look at him, amethyst eyes misted over in some memory. "He hasn't knocked on the window yet."

Somehow, Tucker couldn't find it in him to do what Danny must have always done. Soothing with the truth wasn't his strong point. He made excuses and found answers with his PDA and his tech. He stayed calm, but reassuring people while not shying from the truth… that was different. That was Danny's thing. People weren't pieces of tech that just needed a new wire or a battery. He couldn't just _fix_ them. But… he could patch them up, for a little while at least.

"It's not nightfall." Tucker replied quietly.

"He's usually here pretty soon. I still don't know how he always knows when to show up. He really is gone. He's not coming. He hasn't knocked on the window yet." Sam continued as Tucker stepped forward and robotically helped her onto the bed and pulled the sheets loosely over her.

"It's not nightfall." Tucker repeated. "It's not nightfall."

"Do you know what that is?" Sam asked abruptly, pointing to the wall. A small drawing hung there. It was a black sheet of paper- a picture, Tucker realized, noticing the effects a printer had on the photograph of the night sky. Someone had taken a yellow pencil and connected the stars into a crooked Y shape.

"No. What is it?" Tucker prodded when Sam didn't continue.

"That's the constellation Columba."

* * *

 **Okay, so not 13 pages, but it is just over ten with lots of quality time with Sam and Tucker. What'd you all think? It's 4 in the morning, so I'm exhausted but oddly happy with this chapter. I hope that doesn't mean I'm loopy and this actually sucks. XD I'm editing it while I'm posting it, but I'm so tired I probably missed something. I'll go back and edit the first three chapters tomorrow or something.**

 **Bye!**

Edited: 5/11/2015


	4. Chapter 4

Breath of Life – Chapter 4  
 _Choices and Dreams_

 _Danny bolted down the path, eyes wide as adrenaline coursed through his veins. The world was a muted blur past him, the only clear sounds his pounding pulse and strangled breathing. A crack tore through the air and the alley disintegrated in front of him. Danny yelped and tried to stop, his shoes skidding across the pavement. A cruel chuckle echoed behind him and Danny whipped around, blue eyes searching the shadows frantically._

 _His chest ached and squeezed, his exhausted muscles crying out for a break. Danny greedily gasped for air, almost grateful he had been forced to stop moving. He struggled to focus on his surroundings. The buildings kept blurring out of focus. Where was he? How far from home?_

 _Danny blinked as his breathing slowed, his eyebrows drawing together in confusion. Actually, what was he running from? Why could he smell blood in the air? And the sun was obviously high in the sky so why was it so cold? Danny took a tentative step forward and was greeted with a lash of fear through his system. Danny cried out and stumbled backwards as red eyes appeared in front of his own. He had no time to react as the ground dropped away beneath his feet and he plummeted into darkness._

" _Danny?!"_

 _The black-haired boy twisted around at the sound of his name and hissed in pain as he was abruptly introduced to the floor. His eyes widened as he recognized his surroundings and climbed to his feet to face a very familiar girl._

" _Sam?" He breathed, relief flooding him. He made to move closer to her, but Sam flinched at the movement and Danny froze. He frowned as he studied her appearance. Her hair was in disarray and her clothes were dirty and wrinkled. Her eyes were rimmed with red and underlined with shadows. The rest of her room was in disarray as well, books he knew she loved tossed carelessly on the floor._

" _Sam…" He repeated sadly, a pang striking his heart. He moved cautiously closer to her, watching her eyes to make sure he didn't startle her. He felt a brief flicker of irritation towards his other best friend- hadn't he warned Tucker about this?- but quickly shoved the thought down. Sam was more important at the time. But, why was she so upset?_

" _Hey, little raven." Danny soothed, using the nickname he'd come up with for her. What? It's not his fault she read "The Raven" so many times even_ _ **he**_ _could recite it by heart. "You okay?"_

 _Sam's eyes went wide, disbelief gleaming in their depths, and for a moment Danny was afraid he'd said the wrong thing. And then he was abruptly enveloped in a tight hug. Danny blinked I'm surprise, but returned the hug, concern flowing through him as he felt Sam trembling._

" _I-we…" Sam choked out, "You idiot!" she suddenly shouted out, punching him in the arm before pulling close to him again. She buried her face into his shoulder, which rapidly dampened. Danny promptly pulled them both onto her bed, his hand automatically tracing the shapes of constellations along her shoulder blade. "We thought you were dead!" Sam managed eventually, her sobs hitching in her throat._

 _Danny pulled away some to look at her in confusion. "Why one earth would you think that?"_

 _Sam returned his surprised expression, "You don't remember?"_

 _Danny dug through his fuzzy memories, but they kept slipping away. What was he forgetting? It felt important, but-_

 _He inhaled sharply as pain lanced up his spine and his surroundings flashed green. It died as quickly as it had come, but Danny couldn't get himself to relax. What was that?_

" _Something… green." Danny murmured, staring at the wall like it held all his answers._

" _The portal accident." Sam nodded and Danny froze. Memories washed over him. Oh, right. How could he forget that?_

" _Danny, we're all worried sick. Where have you been?" Sam pleaded. He turned to answer her, but his voice box seemed to have been switched to OFF._

" _Danny?" Sam jumped to her feet. "Where'd you go?"_

" _What are you talking about? I'm right here." Danny asked, reaching for her. Danny's eyes widened as she vanished in front of him, leaving him stranded alone in the darkness again._

" _Sam?" He whispered, blue eyes darting frantically._

 _A scream reached his ears._

* * *

"Sam!"

Danny twisted, snarling against whatever was twisted around his torso. He had to get to Sam! Danny yelped as whatever he was lying on disappeared and he thudded painfully to the ground. Danny went limp for a moment, stunned. His ribs complained about the abuse, throbbing painfully.

"Ow." Danny groaned, slowly clambering out of whatever he had been caught in. "What hit me?" His eyes drifted to the silver-blue walls and Danny sank back onto the bed with a wave of recognition. He was in Athens. In the Ghost Zone.

"A dream." He breathed as a mixture of emotions bubbled through him. Sam was safe- good. But she'd seemed so upset. It would make sense that they thought he was dead. What if Sam was really that upset? Danny shook the thought away. Tucker was there for her. She'd be fine. And besides, he wasn't really dead- he hoped. Pandora would help him get home and that would be that.

A soft knock on the pale door pulled him out of his train of thought and Danny looked up from the floor. "Come in." He called, running a hand through his hair. He scowled as it snagged a few tangles and he realized he must look like a mess.

"Good morning, Sir Daniel." A ghost with skin as white as paper floated in. She had long purple hair tied back into a braid that ended hear the middle of her back. Her eyes- as was the case with most of the ghosts Danny had seen yesterday- were a mild shade of red. She had high cheekbones and a slightly upturned nose, but somehow managed to retain the soft features of youth. She was dressed in a simple light blue gown that ended just below her ankles and pair of white slippers.

"Er, hello…" Danny mumbled, a flush of embarrassment coloring his cheeks. Yup, he definitely looked like a mess.

The ghost simply smiled at him, "Queen Pandora wishes for you to join her for breakfast this morning in one hour. She also wanted me to inform you that these quarters are yours for the time being and that you may explore Athens as you please. She simply requests that you either stay in the palace or the market. A change of clothing will be brought for you, if that is what you wish."

"Yes, please." Danny responded quickly and the ghost nodded and left as quietly as she had arrived. Danny let out a slow breath, reaching up to scrub at the sleep he could feel itching at the corners of his eyes. His gaze drifted to the bathroom and he walked over to the door, noting with surprise that the smooth, marble-like flooring of the room was as soft as carpet. He turned the silver handle and pushed open the door- equally as white as its twin- into the massive bathroom. It was a warm cream color- almost tan. There were no skylights to brighten the room, but three small torches glowed with white light and Danny's eyes widened in awe when he realized it was fire.

He was- sadly enough- equally shocked to see the same, er, _facilities_ that were in a human bathroom. The toilet glared innocently at him from the corner of the bathroom. Danny felt a rush of emotion he couldn't quite identify fill him. His parents couldn't be _that_ far off, could they?

Danny shook his head sharply. He could wonder about that when he got home. Instead, he headed over to the massive tub and turned the _six_ handles until he figured out what they did. _Scented water. Who knew?_ Danny rubbed his face in exasperation. He turned the fourth handle, which was a rosy red color, and the sixth, which was a deep blue. Strawberries- his mother always managed to have a bowl out in the kitchen and he wound up smelling like them every day anyway- and something Danny could only describe as _clean_. Lavender? That was the scent of the detergent they used. Danny rolled his eyes as his mind provided him with the lovely sound of Dash taunting him about "girly scents". Honestly, Danny would rather smell like that than the mixture of sweat and _some_ form of deodorant. Apparently nobody had told him putting deodorant on while you're still sweaty only made it worse.

He pulled off his dirty clothes, grimacing at the holes torn along his jeans and shirt and the mud that caked them. He fingered the left sleeve on his shirt, which had almost torn completely off. "This was my favorite shirt." The teen grumbled as he folded it carefully and stacked it on top of his jeans before slipping into the warm water. He immediately relaxed as the now purple water soothed sore spots in places he didn't even know he had.

 _Much, much better_. Danny hummed as he scrubbed at the dirt that had built up on his skin. It took ten minutes of non-stop scrubbing before he was convinced he had finally gotten off the last of the dirt. He even _felt_ cleaner, like he'd lost a few unnecessary layers of skin. He drifted across the massive tub- he could barely reach the bottom when he swam to the middle- to where he saw a row of bottles neatly split between shampoo and conditioner. He raised an eyebrow at the sight of some of the labels- _Good for that silver shine!_ \- and was careful to select the bottles that supposedly cared for all hair types. _"_ _Doctos_ _folium"_ and _"G_ _laciem_ _lapis"?_ Danny's eyebrows disappeared under the hair sticking to his head and he cautiously opened the lid and wafted the scent towards him. "Blueberries and… is that mango?" Danny frowned at the bottle. "I am going to smell like a fruit salad when I get out of here." He complained, but proceeded to work the shampoo through his grime-caked hair. It took a few more minutes to get rid of the snarls that wound around his fingers, but he climbed back out of the tub satisfactorily clean. He flipped the small lever about the size of his pinkie and watched as the water drained, clear liquid coming from two holes he hadn't seen earlier flushed out the tub.

"Cool. Self-cleaning." Danny remarked as he turned to reach for the towel rack. His clothes had vanished and been replaced by a new set and Danny sifted through it while he dried off his hair. He blinked as he realized that the material resembled silk and was nearly as soft, but it seemed stiffer in his fingers- like it was more durable. The "shirt" was a tunic-like covering that clasped over his left shoulder but did not cover his right. It was a navy blue color with silver threads and the clasp was round as a button and as white as the door. The pants were black and fit like his jeans had, but they weren't quite as loose around his ankles. Next to the clothes was a pair of deep brown sandals. Danny blinked as he recognized it as Greek attire. The tunic was a _chiton,_ right? He was fairly certain one of his English teachers had talked about it during a Greek mythology unit.

Danny pulled on the new clothes, fidgeting somewhat as he figured out how to place them so they were comfortable- it didn't help that he'd never worn sandals a day in his life either. When he was sure he was presentable, he finished drying his hair by hand and used the comb provided to brush through any tangles he had missed and used the toothbrush- yet another surprise- to brush his teeth; thoroughly ridding himself of the lingering taste of mud. Great. Now his breath smelled like mint. He really _was_ a lunch dish.

Danny let himself out of the bathroom and peered out into the hallway, feeling another sense of awe at the sight of the palace. Whatever crystal the skylights were made from actually fractured the light from the ghost zone into a rainbow of softly glowing colors, each best suited to where they fell in their place of the hallway. He was still mystified how the light managed to be both colored and clear at the same time. Danny walked out into the hall, gently closing the door behind him, and examined a small mosaic to his left. It was a picture of a massive blue dragon soaring over an old kingdom with an equally large green one by its side. The colors sparked and rippled at his presence, giving the impression that the dragons had actually moved across the small tiles. His gaze drifted to a violet flower in a nearby golden pot. It was a fairly small thing with five petals and a dark center, but its stem sprawled impressively across the soil, wrapping around the bowl itself. Farther down was a small square where the wall had been cut out and replaced with glass. A thin loop of a necklace floated inside it, created entirely of what Danny assumed were precious gems.

"This place is amazing." Danny breathed, one hand half extended toward another mosaic- this one depicting a mighty horse-like ghost charging across an invisible surface.

"I don't know about that. I've seen places that could put these decorations to shame."

Danny nearly leapt out of his skin at the motherly, amused voice behind him. He yelped and scrambled backwards, a rush of cold filling him. Danny watched, mystified, as a white ring traveled along his height and replaced the Greek outfit with a repaired version of the jumpsuit he'd worn yesterday. He glanced into the glass pane to check his appearance and was greeted by a twin of himself, except this one was slightly tanner than himself with silvery-white hair and glowing green eyes.

A ghost.

"Sorry." Danny apologized meekly, looking up at Pandora. She simply watched him for a moment, something incalculable in her eyes.

"I'm afraid breakfast is ready rather early today. Would you mind postponing your explorations until we finish eating?" The tall blue ghost replied after a moment and Danny shook his head quietly.

"This way, then." She continued, her voice softening. Danny blinked at the tone, but followed Pandora through a maze of hallways- noticing with a squeak of surprise that he was floating- to a small room. The space was taken up by a cozy table in the middle of the room. Papers and books were stacked around with a few pillows placed on the floor- possibly for comfort.

"Sorry about the mess." Pandora spoke up as said mess glowed with green energy and stacked itself in the corner. "The formal dining room is just so…"

"Formal." Danny agreed as the ghost trailed off. Pandora smiled at him, obviously pleased by his answer.

"And here I was worried you'd be offended."

"You wound me." Danny retorted, placing one hand dramatically over his heart. "And my poor obnoxious soul that I conveniently left in Canada."

"You've been to Canada?" Pandora asked and Danny wasn't sure what was more astonishing- the fact that a ghost had just played along with his joke or that a ghost knew about the geographical state of the world.

"Nope." Danny replied with a chuckle. His mother would probably be lecturing him right now, but he couldn't help it. Something about Pandora simply made him relax. He felt like he could trust her.

And look what happened the last time he _didn't_ listen to his instincts.

They slipped into their seats as a small ghost dressed like a butler floated in and began to place their plates in front of them. Danny's eyes widened.

"Wait. Ghosts eat human food?" He immediately snapped his jaws shut, "Er, no offense."

Pandora simply looked at him in amusement, "None taken. I wouldn't expect you to know. And yes, we do. In all honesty, we don't need to eat, but it's a habit left over from our time as humans."

"Right." Danny answered reflexively as he decided on trying the pancakes. His mother was a morning person, but as ghost hunters who stored dangerous ecto-samples in the _fridge_ , it wasn't the greatest idea to have anything except cereal for breakfast. And keep the milk on a high shelf. Danny didn't exactly recognize half of what was in front of him. Better safe than sorry.

He underestimated how hungry he was.

Really, he hadn't eaten since a very small dinner yesterday- what? He hadn't been hungry _then_.- and the first bite of pancake woke up his stomach with a vengeance. He didn't even bother wondering if he even had a stomach since he was in "ghost mode" or whatever it was at the moment.

He froze mid-chew at Pandora's muffled laughter and he reluctantly looked up from his newest food choice- a sort of nut bread soaked in honey syrup- to see her holding one hand over her mouth, eyes gleaming with mirth.

"I take it you're enjoying the food? I'm certain Humphry will be pleased." The blue-skinned Queen cleared her throat politely, but couldn't quite defeat the smile pulling at her lips.

"Humphry?" Danny asked after he finished swallowing. He inwardly thanked his mother for drilling that particular habit into him. He hadn't exactly imagined coming across royalty- ghost or not- as a kid.

"The chef." Pandora clarified and Danny nodded, slowly lowering the bread back onto his plate and taking a sip of the orange juice he had poured for himself earlier.

"It's delicious." The teen added with a flush of red. This was… new. He studied his glass nervously, thoughts whirling. What would qualify as "messing up"?

"Relax, Danny." Pandora soothed and Danny blinked up at her, "You're not on trial here."

The white-haired teen relaxed, feeling that same sense of trust wash over him. There was another flash of white light and he was suddenly human again. Danny tossed his hands up, exasperated. "Am I just going to randomly swap between ghost- that _is_ a ghost half, right?- and human for the rest of my life?!" He exclaimed, rolling his eyes in annoyance.

"Actually, Daniel, that is what I wanted to talk to you about."

Danny froze at the use of his full name. People only did _that_ when talking about something very serious. He sat up straight out of habit, looking evenly- if apprehensively- at the tall spectral being.

"This will be a lot to take in, so I would suggest letting me explain fully before you ask anything." Pandora warned gently and Danny nodded, his stomach churning. He swallowed unevenly. He _really_ didn't want to return his breakfast quite yet.

"Do you remember what I called you last night?" Pandora began after a moment.

He nodded. _"S_ _piritum_ _puer_ _."_

"The native language in the Ghost Zone is one of three- English, Latin, or Esperanto. Most ghosts speak either Latin or Esperanto, but all ghosts- except for the most ancient- can speak English. _S_ _piritum_ _puer_ is Latin for what you are, Danny: a ghost child." Pandora paused, mouth creasing as she thought about how to best explain, "I don't know what happened to cause this, but you are now half-human, half-ghost."

"A what?" Danny gaped in disbelief.

"Most ghosts refer to your kind as a 'halfa'." Pandora grimaced over the words "your kind" like they left a foul taste in her mouth. "You are not completely alone, Danny. There is only one other halfa in the entire world, but-" Danny snapped his mouth shut, his question dying in his throat at her warning tone, "You mustn't seek him out. He is a very unstable, very cruel man who would only seek to harm you."

Pandora fell silent and Danny was grateful for the pause. He was a half-ghost? A halfa? That's what happened to him? He _half-died_? How was that even possible? And there was another person like him! _But of course, he's crazy._ Danny commented sarcastically. That definitely suited his brand of luck.

"Daniel…"

Danny looked back up at Pandora, concern clouding his blue eyes at her hesitant tone.

"What's wrong?"

Pandora shook her head with a fond smile, "A noble heart to worry so quickly about another after just finding out something so drastic."

Harry pulled off the perfect impression of a tomato at the compliment. "A- a w-hat now?" He stammered nervously, "Er, uh-hum… thanks."

Pandora nodded and met his gaze evenly. Danny swallowed nervously. _Uh-oh, here comes another bombshell._

"Your powers will be incredibly hard to control at first- that's why you're switching back and forth between ghost and human for seemingly no reason. Over time you'll develop more powers. Danny you _must_ learn to control them. There are many people who would shun or even harm you simply for being what you are now- even though you had no control over the outcome. You won't be safe from either ghosts or humans. What you've become must remain a secret. Perhaps before the first halfa you may have had a chance at gaining the trust of the other ghosts, but I fear after all he has done, that will be nigh impossible." Pandora shook her head sadly and Danny took the chance to ask.

"What's he done that's so terrible?"

"Many things."

 _Well, that's not much of an answer._ Danny grumbled inwardly, but resigned himself to the evasive reply.

"Mastering your powers will be difficult, Danny, and I have no wish to see you suffer. I would like to give you a choice, if you would care to hear it."

Danny nodded slowly, eyes sparking in curiosity.

Pandora drew in a short breath, "Stay here, with me and my people, Danny. We can train you here- where you will be safe. Athens is its own Kingdom; independent in the Ghost Zone. You can learn all you need to here. It's not just your powers you must master, but if you decide to do more than simply remain half-ghost, you will need to know our history, our culture."

"Do more?" Danny interrupted, mind whizzing with questions. It was the first one that came to mind.

Pandora shrugged in response, "Your ghost half grants you access to our world, Danny. Our powers, our lives, our people. You can learn to control it and then never use your powers, or you can do… whatever you want with them."

Danny's jaw dropped, his mind grinding to a halt. That was true. He was part _ghost_. And he already knew he could fly. What else could he do? Did he even want to know? And… if he did stay, what about home?

"You don't have to answer now, Danny. Take your time and decide. I will wait for your answer. Just know you have a chance here as well."

* * *

" _Ah, ut interesse capta?_ _"_

" _Etiam spectat elit. Quanto est?"_

" _Parum tamen Ghostwriter scripsit_ _"_ _._

" _Hmm, non sum certus. Saepe satis mandat summa._ _"_

" _Ineptias! Nunc igitur eam_ _-"_

"Why the heck can I hear that?" Danny muttered, looking across the marketplace at a pair of ghosts by an extensive book-stand. The market was absolutely massive. Filled to the brim with shops actually stacked on top of one another and wild creatures in cages- pets, he assumed; or maybe dinner, now that he through about it- and ghosts flitting back and forth. Three children giggled and shouted, playing about the market in an airborne game of tag while their parents called after them.

Danny had to admit it was a strange sight. He had decided to head to the market to clear his head and think over Pandora's offer, but he had not expected this. First of all, he had not expected ghost children. In fact, he hadn't even thought that was possible. Second, it was odd seeing ghosts acting so human. He knew that most ghost "information" was based on speculation and at this point he could see it was biased. Did anyone ever bother to actually learn about ghosts? Or just how to attack them? And third, his ears were starting to hurt. Everyone here was speaking Latin or English, but the most disturbing bit was that he could hear conversations all the way across the market- which was as long as two or three football fields- like they were happening right next to him. It wasn't always with such perfect clarity. The sounds dipped and wavered and overlapped like his ears were trying to figure out how to work again and it was giving him a headache.

" _Vos! Eis vultis attemptare_ _t-"_

Danny turned to meet the red eyes of an old ghost with pale green skin and a few more pounds than he should probably have, but a very friendly face with features rounded into a grandfatherly expression.

" _E_ _xspectemus. Sunt tibi Deus humanam?_ _"_

Danny shook his head, "I don't speak Latin, sorry. If ' _humanam_ ' means 'human' then yes, I am a human. Sort of."

"Forgive me." The ghost apologized, swapping into fluent English with only a hint of an accent, "I simply assumed- I'm afraid I must ask, what's a human doing in the Ghost Zone?"

Danny gave the ghost a small smile, "Don't worry about it. As for what I'm doing here…" He trailed off, gazing distantly off to the side, "I'm not sure myself." He refocused on the ghost, blue eyes sharp and clear, "If you mean in Athens, Pandora has brought me here. I am… thinking over a generous offer of hers."

The old ghost obviously hadn't expected that much information, as he didn't press for more. "Yes, our Queen has a kind heart." He agreed somberly.

Danny studied the ghost closely, surprised by the sincerity in his voice. "If you don't mind me asking, could you tell me what Pandora is like? Or… what living here is like?"

"Living-" The ghost repeated, startled, but quickly stopped and mused over his question with an understanding gleam in his eye. "Athens is home. We are a free people and Queen Pandora is our fair ruler. She protects us and offers us a home away from the uneasiness of the rest of the Infinite Realms- what you might call the Ghost Zone." He added at Danny's puzzled expression. He gestured to the children running about, "We have families and friends here, yet we are all connected in some way. Athens is the place our family is. It is home."

Danny nodded slowly, turning the ghost's words over in his mind. He thanked the salesman and turned to walk away, but paused as the old ghost called to him again.

"If Pandora has invited you to stay, she sees something truly great in you, young one. Perhaps more than you would believe yourself."

Danny started, surprised by his words, but when he blinked the old man had turned to another customer, acting as though he never said a thing.

 _Truly great, huh?_

* * *

Danny swallowed the last bite of his sandwich nervously, running his fingers along the edge of his plate. He had put off this conversation for two days, but he could tell that he would have to decide soon. In fact, he had already made his decision, but… he still felt uncertain. Was it really the right choice?

The halfa sighed and dropped his hands into his lap, glancing up to see Pandora watching him in concern. Danny dropped his gaze again, shifting anxiously in his seat.

"Danny," Pandora said quietly, placing her drink back onto the table, "It worries me to see you so stressed. I cannot help you if you don't tell me what is wrong. And if this is your answer if my question… putting it off will only make it seem all that more terrible to you. Either decision will have consequences- both good and bad. It simply means you have to decide what you are most willing to sacrifice."

Danny nodded and hesitantly traced his fingers over one another. "If," He started uncertainly, "if I decide to stay. I want to ask a favor first."

Pandora remained silent and Danny took this as his cue to continue.

"I want to see Sam and Tucker. I want them to know I'm still alive and that I'll be okay." He said quickly and dragged up the courage to check and see Pandora's response.

He was surprised by her question, "Not your parents?"

Danny breathed out a sigh of relief. That wasn't a "no".

"I _do_ want to see them, but…" Danny closed his eyes briefly, feeling the familiar pang of sorrow at the realization he'd had only the other day. "They are ghost hunters. If I show up and try to explain things… even if they do believe I'm not dead, they might try and rip my ghost half out of me." He had asked the other day what would happen if someone had tried that. Pandora had told him very seriously that he would most likely die from the trauma caused by the experience. Not exactly reassuring. "And…" He paused again, unable to continue. _And I'm scared of them, because I think they will do that._ "I want to see them, but only after I'm more in control of my powers. They might be upset I hid from them for so long, but out of everyone, my parents are the people who can't know about what happened to me." The last sentence came out bitterly and Pandora placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. Danny shot her a weak, yet grateful smile. "I want to see Sam and Tucker. I just… I feel like I can't not let _anyone_ know what happened to me. And if I had to pick anyone to tell, it would be them."

"Very well. That can be easily arranged. Does this mean you are staying?" Pandora asked after a minute of silence.

Danny nodded, "I… someone helped nudge me in the right direction. When are we leaving?"

"Now, if you'd like." The Queen offered and Danny felt a true smile spread over his expression.

"Yeah."

* * *

 **Er… so that last scene didn't go quite as I wanted it to. I'll probably re-write it later, but I've got that scene-block thing going on so I just needed to write it out. At the same time, I don't totally hate it so meh *shrugs*.**

 **Kimera20-** Well, I'm glad you're enjoying this story. :)

 **IvyVine6-** Thanks! ^^ That means a lot to me. I've really been working on my writing style so…

 **Bye, guys! See you next chapter!**

Edited: 5/13/2015  



	5. Chapter 5

Breath of Life – Chapter 5  
 _Winged Horses... Nothing Else is Surprising Anymore_

 **Could you all do me a favor and read the A/N at the bottom of the chapter? Particularly if you reads my other stories. I think it'll clear some things up. It's long, but I promise it'll help.**

* * *

"Woah." Danny breathed, eyes wide in disbelief. True to her word, Pandora had literally meant they were leaving _now_ and quickly led him outside the back of the palace. Not only were the brief glances he had seen of the garden impressive, but the stable that were hidden away in a secluded corner held _pegasi_. Ghostly pegasi.

The winged creatures were larger than their flightless counterparts and well, normal horses didn't _glow_ either. The stable was a massive wood-like structure in a sort of rectangular shape. A back room that held grooming supplies was in the back and rounded into an oval. The stalls were at least half the size of his room and all of them were currently empty. Some of the winged horses were circling above their heads and the rest were cantering or grazing in an equally astonishing meadow.

"Pegasi." Danny deadpanned, "Nothing will ever surprise me again."

Pandora- surprisingly- smirked at his words, "I'll remind you of that next time something surprises you." She paused for a moment and looked out over the field, "I suppose I should tell you about them before you accidently get your hand bitten off."

Danny paled, "Wait, they won't _actually_ bite my hand off, will they?" He eyed the creatures warily. He was awfully fond of his hands…

"These ones won't, but the wild ones will." Pandora answered, "There are a few different 'types', if you will, of ghosts. For now, we'll focus on primitive ghosts. Pegasi are one such type. They behave much like horses in the human world. However, they are also more intelligent. Pegasi can actually understand what you say, but they only know Latin. As such, their emotions and ability to understand are far greater. Still, they do run on instinct. Just like a horse will run if startled in your world, a Pegasus will do the same. However, earn one's loyalty and it will never leave your side. There are a few rare Pegasi out there of even higher intelligence. While a Pegasi might be able to figure out if a fire is contained and won't hurt it, or even if you are trying to help it- unlike a spooked horse- they are still more likely to run. More intelligent Pegasi will either stay or may even find a way through the fire if you are on the other side. As far as addressing a Pegasus goes, it's a bit more complex than interacting with a horse. If you don't show respect, good luck getting within ten feet of it safely."

"So how would I show respect?" Danny asked after a moment, watching the Pegasi with a new intensity. It was odd how different they could be from horses while still retaining similarities to the earthly animals.

The blue-skinned ghost ignored his question in favor of calling out, _"Iluvia, veni!"_

The young halfa barely restrained a terrified yelp and toppled to the ground when a figure streaked out of the sky and landed in front of them with the muffled _thud_ of hooves upon soil. Startled blue eyes peeked up at the Pegasus standing in front of them. It was roughly eight and half feet high with a light blue coat and black patches along its spine and around its hooves. Its tail and mane were far lighter and appeared almost white. Its wings were the same light blue color, however, some of the feathers were completely black. Flashes of purple electricity arced across its coat as it landed and its eyes were honey-like yellow.

" _M_ _itescere te_ _, Iluvia."_ Pandora murmured to the Pegasus as she moved to stroke its next soothingly. The winged ghost let out a sound Danny likened to a hum as it leaned into her hands.

"This is Iluvia, my own Pegasus. While most tame Pegasi allow anyone to ride them, occasionally a Pegasi will 'claim' a rider and not allow anyone to ride him or her. Iluvia claimed me as her rider a long time ago, and I have yet to find a more loyal Pegasus." Pandora's fond gaze never left the blue Pegasus as another of her hands reached up to scratch Iluvia's forehead.

"She's quite beautiful." Danny commented quietly as he slowly rose to his feet. Iluvia's yellow eyes rested on him challengingly and the Pegasus snorted at him, moving away from her rider to step closer to him. Danny held still as the Pegasus circled around and sniffed at him. "Hello, Iluvia." Danny greeted calmly, something in his mind nagging at him to talk with the Pegasus. "I know I have no right to ask you of this, but could you help me get back to my home? I need to see my friends."

The Pegasus drew back appraisingly and Danny suppressed a shiver at the comprehension he saw gleaming in her eyes. The young halfa carefully held out one hand, only stopping when he saw the Pegasus tense and pin its ears back in warning. Danny froze, but left his hand were it was. After a tense moment, Iluvia allowed him to stoke her neck and Danny knew he had done well when Pandora smiled at him.

" _Ad stabulum_ _, Iluvia._ _Tempus est equitare._ _"_ Pandora spoke to Iluvia and the blue Pegasus trotted over to the stables with Pandora following behind her. Danny watched in astonishment as Pandora walked into the backroom and emerged with a small orange cube. She gave the cube to Iluvia, who bit down on it and Danny closed his eyes a bit at a flash of light. When the black spots in his vision faded he saw a white saddle and rein had been fitted onto the Pegasus.

"You can remind me how I said I was never going to be surprised again now." Danny voiced as soon as he broke out of his shock.

"I can, can I?" Pandora remarked in amusement as she walked over to him. Danny grumbled some when the female ghost lifted him into the saddle, but didn't protest the action. He was in the saddle and she was taking him to see Sam and Tucker. He couldn't honestly complain.

Pandora climbed on behind him and Iluvia took a running start before shooting into the sky at a startling speed. Danny yelped and gripped the edges of the saddle, staring wide-eyed downward at the rapidly disappearing Athens. Soon it had completely vanished. Danny frowned. Even at the speed they were flying, should the ghostly city really have disappeared so fast?

Danny blinked. In fact, couldn't ghosts fly? He could understand getting a ride on a Pegasus with him here, but Pandora made it sound like she rode Iluvia many times. "Um… I hate to sound ungrateful, but… don't ghosts fly?"

He titled his head up to see a half-amused, half-surprised expression crossing her face. "Well, yes. I suppose I should explain that."

Danny was pretty sure he broke the rules of deadpanning by doing it silently, but hey: if it works.

"I can give you a more detailed explanation of how the Ghost Zone 'works', but it is a very intricate thing. For now, we'll just say that while you are in its 'atmosphere' you are subjected to the natural movements of the Infinite Realms. For example, you could travel in a straight line from point A to point B and in a sense, you _would_ be traveling in a straight line. However, the paths of the Ghost Zone aren't defined by human rules. One minute you could be on one side of the ghost zone and the next on the other side and back again. I don't have a _true_ map of the Infinite Realms, but every ghost's lair doesn't actually move. They're truthfully very far apart from each other. How far that distance feels can vary depending in the natural 'path' used to get there. Pegasi and the only ghosts who have the ability to cut through those paths. In exchange for this, they have to fly using wings and if they ever lost them they would remain as flightless as horses. There are other winged ghosts, but only Pegasi have that ability." Pandora explained, "Since they are also what some call 'primitive' ghosts, they can better sense nearby natural portals. Iluvia is taking us to a weakened area right now, where we can hopefully find a portal close to Amity."

Danny frowned, "Why can we just use the portal my parents created?"

Danny jerked in surprise when Pandora abruptly pulled Iluvia to a stop, the Pegasus prancing anxiously as they landed on a nearby rock. "Your parents opened a portal? A synthetic, permanent portal in Amity?" Pandora asked, gripping his shoulder to get him to look at her.

Danny blinked, stunned, and couldn't quite think up an answer.

"Danny!" Pandora barked out sharply, knocking him out of his stupor. Her own gaze was fearful, but she obviously collected herself before asking; "Danny, did they connect to a natural portal to hold it open or did they actually create a portal?"

"Created one." Danny answered quietly, unsure as to why his answer seemed to bother Pandora more. "I was inside when I hit the ON button."

Pandora fell silent, staring through him as she thought about something. He watched uncertainly as an expression of grief and anger flitted across her face.

"Pandora, what's wrong?"

"I-" The blue-skinned ghost started, but paused. "It's another thing for another time. I'll have Iluvia try to hunt the portal down. That portal is endangering your city. Permanent portals are rare and ghosts like to take advantage of them. Practically none of them lead out into a city and if the ghosts find out…"

"Amity Park will become the most haunted town in America." Danny finished, paling rapidly.

" _Iluvia,_ _permanens_ _portal_ _est propinquo._ _Inveniet eam._ _"_ Pandora spoke rapidly and Iluvia took off into the air again, circling for a minute before heading off in a new direction. A tense silence fell between the two ghosts- well, ghost and half-ghost- and Danny shifted awkwardly in the saddle, gaze searching for something else to focus on.

After a few minutes, the Greek ghost behind him signed and Danny turned his blue gaze back onto her. "Danny, this may sound odd right now, but I promise I'm not going to hide anything from you as long as you stay with me. That portal is more than just a gateway between our worlds. I would rather wait until we got back to Athens to explain, but if you would like to know now…"

She trailed off, but Danny just smiled. "It's alright. I'll wait till we get back. I trust you."

Pandora looked at him in surprise for a moment before she smiled and nodded. Danny turned back to face what was in front of them and caught sight of a swirling green portal encased in a metal shell. "That's it!" He called and then fell quickly silently. There was a weird stirring sensation in his stomach and he felt like some spot in his chest was _humming_ at the sight of the portal. Pandora directed Iluvia towards the portal and Danny squeaked in surprise when the Pegasus turned both invisible and intangible and transferred the effects to them. It was odd. He could feel a foreign power running through his veins and faintly feel both the… _cores_ \- that's what they were- of the two ghosts with him. Iluvia's was complex enough to him, but gave off a sense of an instinctual nature. He could feel his thoughts clouding and his senses automatically expanding if he focused on it for too long, so the halfa quickly turned his attention elsewhere. He could feel Pandora's core thrumming behind him. It was far more complex than Iluvia's and if he paid just enough attention he could sense an invisible weight holding on to it. Or, not. There was no actual weight, but it felt as though her core was bound to something. His own felt free by comparison.

Danny scowled, chasing away the envious emotion that arose in him. What was that about? But… why did he feel so… lost?

"Don't worry, Danny. I'll explain that too." Pandora said and Danny blinked at her in surprise. Could she read his emotions like this? He could practically _feel_ the reassurance she had conveyed to him in her words.

All too quickly they had entered the portal and Danny's breath caught in his throat at the brief flashes of his house. Iluvia sped through the building and out into the open air where she drifted up and spotted an alleyway to land in before releasing the power she was using.

Danny slid out of the saddle, peeking his head around the corner of the buildings to figure out where he was. He nearly laughed when he spotted Sam's er, mansion a few blocks down.

"Try to stay out of sight, Danny." Pandora reminded him. "If you're seen you're have to return home and I won't be able to help you. Iluvia and I will wait here."

Danny nodded, gazing out at the street nervously. The task in front of him was actually quite daunting. Not only did he have to go tell his best friends: _hey, you know, I'm half-dead and going to live in the Ghost Zone with this ghost I just met for a while_ ; but he also had to avoid being spotted by _anyone_ including his parents and-

Jazz. Danny halted, eyes widening in shock. Could he tell her? _Should_ he?

On one hand, she was his sister and deserved to know he was alive, but by that logic so should his parents. But, he already felt bad keeping the truth from his parents alone, could he do that to his sister as well? On the other hand, then Jazz would have to lie to their faces every second of every day and he wouldn't wish that on her. And that's if she even agreed to keep it a secret in the first place. Not to mention she could crack one day and spill everything to their parents.

Danny sighed, heart constricting painfully. No. He couldn't tell her. He couldn't put her through that sort of pressure. At least Sam and Tucker wouldn't be loyalty-and-love bound to tell either his or their parents that he was still alive. It's be cruel to ask that of his sister.

"Is everything alright?" Pandora asked, concern coating her tone. Danny looked over at her and nodded unevenly.

"Yeah… just thinking. Gotta have those second thoughts and shake 'em off an' all." He admitted and the Greek ghost gazed at him sympathetically.

"Well, I'll be back." He continued breathily, checking to make sure the street was clear before heading out.

Time to face his own demons.

* * *

 **Hey, so I've gotten a couple questions and/or reviews about my other stories so I thought I'd clear it up on here. Firstly: no, I have not quit my other stories. I actually had to deal with some really difficult stuff that hit me hard and I found it difficult to continue writing (this was when I apparently dropped off the face of the planet) so I decided that I would take a break. During that break I reviewed some of my chapters and found I wasn't satisfied with my writing so I decided to refine it. I also made the decision to only post stories after their completion since I usually write more than one at a time and having to deal with multiple deadlines was stressful for me, even if it is easy for other people. I did mean to begin posting sooner, but family problems cropped up and at the end of those I found myself dealing with a Depression bout (it runs in my family pretty strongly- especially for the women). So I decided to ease myself back into Fanfiction after I got through my "little bout".** _ **Breath of Life**_ **is actually not completed, which is why these chapters are taking so long. This is a sort of "test" story to check and see if other people like my writing- so far I have been immensely pleased with the positive feedback (thank you all so much, I love each of my loyal readers dearly). Another reason this** _ **BoL**_ **isn't complete is because I'm planning it to be longer than any of my other stories and if I didn't get any feedback I'd probably get bored and stop writing and I really like this story myself and I don't want to quit it. I have two more test stores coming up (both of these will be completed with one chapter posted every day) under the titles** _ **Bloodstains**_ **, which will be a Danny Phantom/Teen Titans crossover, and** _ **Changes**_ **, which is a How to Train Your Dragon fic. Now, as for the stories I took down: NO I DIDN'T DELETE THEM. I'm rewriting them or editing the plots. Most of the ones I took down were one or two chapters and needed some serious editing for the future plot because I posted them impulsively. More importantly, many of you liked my** _ **How to Save Your Future**_ **series (HtTYD) and were upset when I removed it. I probably should have left it up until I finished rewriting it (I admit, it was a dumb decision) but I regret to say I no longer have original files so you have to wait. To apologize, I'm combing both into one fic, making it longer, and even throwing in a** _ **very**_ **special surprise. I think you'll enjoy the new version. Now, I'm sure you all want to know when I'll pick up my other stories. Honestly, I don't know. It will be after** _ **Breath of Life**_ **is finished** _ **and**_ **after** _ **Bloodstain**_ **and** _ **Changes**_ **. I'm also still working on some stories (such as my current #1,** _ **Relapse**_ **) and I have to complete those. I would also like to request that in the future if I disappear or if you want an update for you to check my profile page. I will keep it up to date with future stories and their progress as well as my more recent stories and even some tidbits about me and other such things; including if I am taking a break or not for some reason or another. I prefer using my profile page because it keeps A/N from being needlessly long (like this one). However, since I have no large projects going on I won't start that yet. When I post** _ **Bloodstains**_ **and** _ **Changes**_ **I will have a short notice at the bottom of a future chapter and when I do start posting on my profile I will also add in a tag on all of my stories. I also need to mention that** _ **Hidden Scars**_ **doesn't apply to any of this. Since it is a one-shot series it will be randomly updated and now that I am semi-updating again I will also post on that. For now, future chapter alerts for that story will be tagged on A/Ns, but when I being posting on my profile I will post an alert on there instead. Thank you for reading through this absurdly long thing. I promise to try to avoid doing it EVER AGAIN.**

 **As for why this chapter took so long in particular, I had end-of-school, start-of-summer things to deal with and my family visited for a while so I was busy and didn't have the time or patience to write this chapter. Any free time I got was spent relaxing (I'm an introvert, so even family time can get pretty taxing) and while I enjoy writing quite a bit, I don't really count it as mind-numbing relaxation time.**

 _ **Anyway**_ **:**

 **Great-** Well, I'm definitely glad you're enjoying the story and I appreciate how your support for sure, but don't write this off as just a training in the GZ story. This fic has its own complex plot. I'm writing it all under one title, but I could probably break it down in four or five segments, each covering a two year span in the timeline. I hope you continue to enjoy what I have planned.

 **The Fan of awesome-** Glad you're enjoying this :)

 **IvyVine6-** In order: Thanks! I did some research to help me along. I'm sorry about the acid. And thanks once more, glad you like the story. And it's not just a flip of the original, I've got some things in store for Danny.

 **And I just noticed that I haven't translated** _ **anything**_ **. So… I'll start doing that when Danny learns other languages so you'll be just as lost as he is. Muwahahahaha! *evil smile***

 **No, really. Nothing that has been said in another language is important yet. Don't worry about it.**

 **And yes, this chapter is very short. I wanted to have the Sam-Tucker moments in the next one and this short snippet was incredibly taxing on my creativity box for some weird reason. It didn't take long to** _ **write**_ **. It took long to force myself to come up with the right words to use. Sorry about that, and the next one will be up soon.**


	6. Chapter 6

Breath of Life – Chapter 6  
 _Bittersweet Reunion (Part 1)_

Sam unconsciously dragged the highlighter across the page in front of her, only partially aware of the English homework sitting on her desk. Lancer had asked them to read some chapter and select quotes they thought important or significant, but the teenage Goth couldn't bring herself to focus on the task. Despite her parent's obtuse opinion, school was not- and should not- be the first thing on her mind. One of her _best friends_ was dead. The same friend that she'd chased bullies away from in their elementary years. The same friend that had been her steadfast pillar of support since she could remember. The same friend that would spend hours reading with her when she asked despite Tucker's claims that reading was the most boring thing on Earth. The same friend that translated Tucker's geek-speak when she couldn't.

A brief and unusual smile touched her lips at her last thought. What an odd thing to remember him by. Unwittingly, her violet eyes slid over to the yellow-lined constellation pinned to her wall. She'd never told her mother how it got there or who gave it to her, and the time Pamela had tried to throw it away as junk was the first time Sam had locked herself in her room for a week straight. As fiercely protective as she was over it, however, she had eventually begun to believe in Judaism like the rest of her family. Her streak of being agnostic had come more from an uncertainty of placing all her faith in one thing. Especially since said faith had stemmed from her parents, whom she had little trust in anyway. It had been her grandmother and her constant nickname of "bubeleh" that had eventually swayed her. Sam couldn't give an honest date when she had finally decided to place her faith in something again, but she clearly remembered the day she had told Danny. To be blunt, she'd been absolutely terrified. Danny was one of two people that had accepted her without question- three, actually, including her grandmother- but he had been raised by scientist and had a firmly agnostic view. He could have easily been upset or disappointed or even angry that she'd left that behind, but instead he had done the last thing her nervous mind had dreamed up.

He'd shrugged, grinned, told her he was happy for her, and then turned around to ask Tucker if they had math homework. It hadn't even sounded like he was anything but sincerely pleased she'd found a religion to place her faith in despite that her parents shared the same one.

The constellation of Columba pinned to her wall had become something that was simply personally symbolic. She could still swear that every time she turned around, she could see a dove sitting on Danny's shoulder. It was ridiculous, but his words that night had stuck with her.

Sam swallowed thickly, mentally tracing the familiar constellation as she suddenly found herself praying that the imaginary dove she'd seen was actually guiding him where he needed to go.

Now, Sam Manson was no stranger to the expression "so silent you could hear a pin drop" and she would agree that since her parents were out, the mansion _was_ exceptionally quiet, but the last thing she'd ever thought to hear in the dead-silence of her mournful contemplation was an all-too-familiar trickle of dirt down the side of her house followed by a heavy thud and a muffled curse.

Palms sweating, Sam slowly turned in her chair to face the window, slightly cracked to allow fresh air to wash out the stale air-conditioner taste. Her pulse pushed painfully through her veins and the air felt like cotton on her ears at the reigning silence. And then, the slightest scuff.

That couldn't be-

Could it?

* * *

Keeping low, Danny sprinted across the final stretch and vaulted over the fence into Sam's backyard. Barely making his habitual check to be certain the yard was clear, the new halfa collapsed to his knees. His vision swayed unevenly as he dazedly looked up and a black tunnel was starting to swallow up what he could see. His heart beat uncomfortably tense in his chest and each panting breath scraped like sandpaper against his lungs.

The black-haired teenager dropped ungracefully to the ground to relieve his aching elbows and knees. The part of his mind that was magically thinking clearly as everything spun away and became distant until his own breathing sounded like it was coming through a long tunnel questioned why he felt so weak. He might not be a star athlete, but he certainly wasn't Tucker. Climbing up to Sam's window wasn't an easy task and he'd learned to stay at the very least fit enough to make a speedy get-away if he needed to. He'd never let Dash know that in a million years though. Although, he _did_ outpace the Jock running down the hallways. Thankfully, his personal bully never seemed to notice that.

Slowly, his vision cleared and his breathing and pulse evened out enough for him to sit up. He was now dusty from a light coat of dirt that had puffed up when he'd collapsed and his muscles still felt slack and weak no matter how many times he flexed them. His neck in particular felt unnaturally warm and like it shouldn't be able to lift his head. "Ugh…" Danny groaned in complaint, not quite able to speak.

 _I hope this is just an 'I've been zapped by a portal and stuck in the Ghost Zone' thing._ He thought as he used the horizontal support in the fence to haul himself to his feet. He froze for a moment, making certain that he wasn't going to collapse again, before making his way over the wall underneath Sam's window. The Manson's garden was well-tended and filled to the brim with plants and flowers he couldn't even begin to name, but his favorite was by far the creeper or vine or whatever it was the clung to the bricks in front of him- though, not because it looked nice. It _was_ a pretty plant, with rich, dark leaves and a supple stem that was littered with deep orange flowers in the spring. Luckily for him, Mr. and Mrs. Manson obviously agreed. It was as carefully tended as the rest of the yard, trimmed into order and all, but unlike the other vines, it was allowed to climb up some of the house. Not enough to get him all the way to the window, but enough to give him a handhold- or foothold- until he was high enough to reach the more weathered bricks on the higher floors.

Danny took a deep breath and shifted from foot to foot to make sure the last of his dizzy spell had passed before carefully reaching across the stems to grip the brick underneath and pull himself up the wall. His shoes scrabbled briefly for a purchase and he gritted his teeth as his elbow shook a bit, his arms abruptly feeling hollow once more. Sweat had already begun to bead on his brow and his legs didn't want to support his frame as he finally latched on to a purchase. Danny glanced down briefly, hoping he hadn't dislodged or damaged any of the vine with his struggle. What was _wrong_ with him?

Frowning against a clouded headache, Danny unevenly made his way up the wall, having to rely far more on his reflexes to snag a solid purchase than he'd like. His fingers felt raw and sore from all the scraping he'd done against the brick to find a handhold, but he didn't think he could take it slow because his limbs were about to give out and-

Danny only barely managed not to call out as he lost his grip and tipped backwards away from the brick. Eyes wide, a shot of adrenaline raced through his system and he flung his arms forward wildly as his right foot slipped from its grip. His left knee buckled slightly and his palms stung as they dragged down the brick until he clamped down hard on another solid purchase. His torso smacked painfully into his bent knee, leg still stuck where he'd left it, as his other leg thudded into the wall. "Ow!" Danny hissed and cursed under his breath, blinking away the brick dust that trickled into his face. Getting his leg unstuck was tricky, since he had to push away from the wall in order to free his foot, but he thankfully managed it without fault and continued scaling his way up the wall.

Danny hesitated with his fingers gripping the base of Sam's windowsill. He couldn't imagine how she was going to react to seeing him after… well, he'd gotten himself stuck in the portal on Tuesday and now it was Friday or Saturday? A shuddering breath escaped him as he forced away his uncertainty and pulled himself up and into the room through the cracked window. Now or never, right?

He froze in the spot when he dropped onto the floor, habitually pulling the window shut behind him, and met Sam's shocked violet eyes. Danny was torn between a rush of relief and happiness to see her and to see that she was alright and a lump of painful guilt at how painful visibly taxing the last few days had been on her.

For the first time in his life, Danny was looking at a Sam Manson who was actually dressed in all black. Jeans, a plain short sleeve shirt, and combat boots off to the side. Her hair was left completely down and frizzed from only barely being thoroughly brushed in the morning. There were shadows under her eyes and she seemed thinner than he remembered. Her room, usually kept clean, was a disaster zone of a mess on one side and spotless in the other.

"Sam?" He tried tentatively, knowing he had to say _something_. Some sort of proof that he was really there. She flinched slightly at the sound of his voice and his enhanced hearing let him hear the slight catch in her breathing. Well, at least she hadn't freaked out. Yet.

He waited another moment for the slight glaze of disbelief to fade from her eyes and took a cautious step forward. Sam abruptly snapped a hand up, warning him to stop. "Don't." She half-ordered in a voice that sounded more like a gasp.

Complying, Danny stood still as his best friend slowly stood up and edged closer to him. His pulse was painful in his ears by the time Sam was standing only a foot away and Danny wanted nothing more than to reach out and pull her into a hug that she'd probably kick him for later. There was a dull ache of longing somewhere between his heart and newly developing core that made it difficult to breathe. He hadn't realized how much he'd missed his best friends until now.

"Danny?" Sam whispered, blinking like someone who hadn't seen the sun in a very long time.

He cracked a small grin. "Hey." He answered, equally as quiet before the air was rushed out of him as Sam lunged forward and crushed the air out of him in a tight hug. He stayed still for as long as his could, heart lurching to his throat as he took in her trembling frame. There was a gentle pulsing in the corner of his mind somewhere completely filled with grief and disbelief all wrapped up in relief and happiness with a hint of anger that he hadn't come back sooner. A fond smile touched his lips as he mentally ran through Sam's emotions. He wasn't sure why or how, but he'd always been able to _feel_ or even _hear_ Sam's thoughts when she was being particularly emotional. Like when her aunt died or her mother told her for the first time that her being Goth was just a ridiculous phase. Really, he knew that he should tell Sam about it, but it seemed to be a one way thing. She never seemed to actively be aware of the link between them. She'd call out whenever she was particularly upset, but it was muddled enough that it had to be a subconscious thing. Other than that, she did seem to be able to recognize his own emotions and thoughts throughout the day on some unconscious level. Still, it was usually only when that emotion was particularly strong. Like if he was extremely irritated or irrationally happy about something. As long as he kept his emotions under control, she seemed none the wiser and he didn't want to worry her about it. He'd spent the first several months after that realization cautiously testing the limits of their link to try and figure out what was and wasn't acceptable. If he really concentrated, he could actually hear her thinking or read it or whatever, but that was something he would never do. Not even when she was extremely upset over something. If she didn't want to tell him something, then he'd wait until she did want to.

But right now, he was never more grateful for it. It was soothing to know how she was reacting, despite the bone-crushing hug being enough of a clue. _Speaking of which…_

"Sam… c-can't… _breathe_." He greedily inhaled deeply as she finally let him go. It was only through sheer willpower that he stayed on his feet, fighting of the dizziness the lack of oxygen had forced onto him in combination with his apparent sickness of some sort. "Hi." He repeated, one hand pressed to his ribcage in support. The pressure kept his mind steady and soothed the ache in his lungs.

"You're _alive_." Sam stated and an awkward silence fell between them. After all, what did somebody just _say_ to something like that? Especially in _his_ situation. If he'd been kidnapped for three years straight it would be easier to explain than this. Or even if he'd just up and decided to experience life on his own for a while.

He felt a flick of worry and anger course through the link. "Where have you been?! What happened to you? Why didn't-?"

Danny hurried to cut her off. "Sam, please. I'll explain, but could you get Tucker to come here first? I can't risk running across the city- _yes_ ," he added empathetically, noting her questioning glare, "I'll explain that, too- but I really don't feel like explaining it twice."

Sam stared at him for a moment, obviously processing and judging his words, before nodding and turning towards the phone.

Swallowing thickly, Danny reached out and caught her wrist. "And Sam?" He paused until she glanced back at him. "I'm sorry."

Some of the anger in her eyes melted away, her shoulders dropping slightly. "You promised."

"I know."

"You _promised_." She snapped, anger burning like fire in her eyes before it abruptly faded away again. She sighed. "But you came back."

"I won't leave you alone again." Danny promised, feeling his throat constrict around the words. He'd already promised that and broken it by going through that portal. Besides, could he really keep that promise? He'd told Pandora he would stay in the Ghost Zone for three years. _Three_.

He shook the thought away. He'd do his damnedest to try.

They hesitated for another moment, the reality of the other person _actually_ being in front of them finally settling, before Sam gave a slight tug to get him to let go of her wrist. Danny's gaze drifted down in surprise. He'd forgotten he was still-

"Sam, what's that?" Danny asked tensely, a ripple of anxiety running through his ghost senses. Something had set them off, but he couldn't tell what. It would take more time before he could really understand his… other half.

"I… don't know." Came the Goth's puzzled answer. "I haven't seen that before. It wasn't there a minute ago."

On the base of her wrist, just below where her thumb connected to her arm, there was a small dot roughly the size and shape of a fingerprint glowing bright green. Danny ran his thumb over it experimentally, shivering slightly at the cool patch of skin. A small spark ran through his system and Danny swore the edges of his next breath was faintly outlined in blue.

 _This has something to do with the Accident._ Danny realized, barely managing to keep his expression fixed into a puzzled mask. _Whatever that spot is, it's not human. It's ghost._

"Sam, has anything odd happened around you or to you in the last few days?" Danny questioned immediately, his tone fierce.

Sam blinked, startled, and then shook her head.

"How close were you to the portal?" He continued, struggling to push past Sam's flinch at the mention of his parent's invention.

"You don't remember?" Sam replied worriedly, her brow creased. "Danny- you pushed me and Tucker away from the portal. You were _out_ of the portal, but I guess you knew what was going to happen next because you pushed us away and then the portal… _exploded_ or something and by the time we could see again, you were gone." Her gaze returned to the glowing mark on her skin and her expression suddenly cleared as she spoke in slow snippets. "And… that's… I remember, it felt like a sting and… something like, I don't know, we thought it was an electrical shock…"

"Sam. What. Happened?" Danny bit back a sharp tone, forcing himself to keep calm. She obviously hadn't experienced anything odd. It could just be a reaction or something to being so close to the portal and she still _seemed_ completely human. At least, that's what his ghost senses seemed to say. They were calmer here, but had been haywire in the Zone.

Sam seemed to search for accurate words before she finished lamely, "The portal 'zapped' Tucker and I." She peered at him worriedly, "You don't remember that?"

Danny shook his head reflexively, his mind too occupied to really care. It was a traumatic experience. He didn't clearly remember anything except a faint sensation of extreme pain and green. Green _everywhere_. He _did_ have the oddest sensation that he actually remembered more of it a few days ago. Like his mind was systematically erasing his memory of it bit by bit. But if the portal accident had turned him _half-ghost_ , then what would it do if two people were simply glanced by that volatile combination of electricity and ectoplasm? Hopefully nothing. He didn't want to take them to the Ghost Zone. It was absolutely bewildering and the only reason he hadn't freaked out about seeing it was because he'd been taught about a hypothetical ghost world his whole life and he'd had a more pressing purpose: find help. After that, he'd had Pandora to keep him calm and teach him about it. Besides, Pandora had stressed that it wasn't safe for humans to be in there. He only got away with it because of his half-ghost status and that was apparently even _more_ dangerous than being just human. Because of whatever this… _Plasmius_ had done, at least.

 _I'll keep an eye on it through the link._ Danny finally decided and released Sam's wrist. He didn't fail to notice that the mark faded the further away it got from his hand. "Wait, Sam-" Danny muttered and reached towards her wrist again, frowning as the mark came into view again.

 _It's responding to_ _ **me**_. Danny realized. _Or, my ghost half, at least._

"Danny?" Sam said to get his attention. He blinked at her, mind taking a moment to realize that she had something to say. "What is it?"

"Nothing." He answered, shaking his head. He hesitated before adding, "Nothing serious, at least. I think I know what it's connected to, but I don't know _why_." He caught her questioning gaze and sighed. "I'll explain. _After_ Tucker gets here."

Sam half-glared at him and walked away towards the phone on her nightstand. Danny noticed with relief that she seemed to be happier now. She'd lost the shuffling, gaunt stride that he remembered from his dream and she seemed to be more connected to the world around her; judging by the look on her face when she noticed the state of her room, at least.

It was quiet for a moment and Danny realized that he could hear the phone ringing from where he was standing. His hearing had been constant for a while. It melt expanding and shrinking, but never enough to not encompass the room. He swore he'd heard Sam's grandmother bowling or something a few minutes ago. He really hoped he could learn to control that. It was cool and all, but he didn't really want to eavesdrop on everyone for the rest of his life, his eyes were hurting from his inconsistent vison, and he was sick of breathing through his mouth to avoid the sting on his nose from… well, everything that _didn't_ smell like warm nut bread soaked in honey syrup.

" _Sam?"_

"Hey, Tucker."

" _Hey. You sound… better."_

"Yeah." She paused for a moment. "Thanks for… you know. Helping."

" _No problem. I, uh… I promised him I would, you know? It's sort of funny. He was so serious. It was like he knew…"_

Sam's reply wasn't anything verbal. Just a harsh, choking sob that was battling with a strained laugh.

" _Sorry."_

"No, no." She breathed in reply. Danny quietly stepped over to her when he noticed she looked ready to cry. She didn't fight when he pulled her into a hug, gently rocking them back and forth to soothe her. Guilt weighed down on his mind. He'd caused this just by being away for a few days. Could he really leave for three years?

 _Maybe they could visit._ A voice whispered in his head. Danny mentally shoved the thought away. He couldn't be that selfish. He couldn't put them in danger like that. _But isn't staying away just as selfish?_ Maybe, but staying close-by was just as dangerous. He couldn't control his powers and Pandora had mentioned that he would 'attract' high-level ghosts unless he was in the Ghost Zone. She hadn't explained much more than that, but Danny was sure he could ask later.

"I guess he kept his promise." Sam whispered into the phone, one hand gripping his shirt tightly. Danny wasn't sure how to respond to that. He certainly didn't feel like he had.

" _Yeah. He was always good about his promises."_ A brief pause. _"So, what… uh, what's up?"_

Danny decided then and there that he officially hated himself. He hated the struggle that he could hear in Tucker's voice to turn away from that topic and act like it was okay that time was still moving forward although it really needed to stop for him. Just for a little bit. And it was all his fault. Because he'd walked into that portal.

Sam looked up at him them and he could feel the link thrumming in his mind. She was detecting his emotions. She frowned slightly and shook her head, unclenching her free hand to press her palm against his chest through his shirt. _It's not your fault_. He could hear her thinking. _You idiot, it's mine. I asked you to go in there._

For a second, he would've sworn that she knew about the link because of how clear and defined those thoughts were, but then she shook her head like she was visibly telling him he was wrong and opened her mouth to say something before she realized she had to answer Tucker.

"Look, this is going to sound weird, but could you come over? Now? It's… important."

" _Now? Like, this second now?"_

"Yes! 'Like this second now'!" Sam snapped in reply before reeling in her tone and sighing. "Tucker, please?"

There was silence on the other end of the call before, _"Yeah. Of course. I'll be over in a bit, Sam. I think mom will drive me."_

"Thanks."

" _Mm-hmm. See you, Sam."_

"See you."

Sam clicked the phone shut and slid her arm under his to drop in back on the nightstand, tilting her head to rest her chin on his shoulder. Part of him was happy to simply be able to hold her and reassure himself that the nightmare or dream or whatever it was had been just that- a dream- and to let her stay right there so she could really be sure he wasn't going to disappear, but that same reasoning only added to the guilt he already felt. She shouldn't have to be held like this. This was Sam. The independent, headstrong and fiery Goth of their odd trio. Seeing her this broken…

It hurt to know that he was the one that had caused her more pain than he'd ever seen before.

* * *

 _The night air drifted lazily over the rooftops of Amity Park, sending a comfortingly cool breeze across the city. The night sky was crystal clear and thousands of stars twinkled brightly overhead. The moon was covered by the Earth's shadow tonight, letting the true beauty of a hundred star shining overhead show in the black velvet of the space._

 _Two figures sat on the roof of the Manson's mansion, faintly illuminated by the dying bulb of an old electric lantern. A plate of strawberries sat between them, already eaten down to the leaves. The tiles were beginning to become slick with the formation of early-morning dew, but the two were perched on a flat stretch covered by a thick towel._

"… _and that," Danny continued, pointing out and tracing a constellation shaped like a bent triangle. "Is Capricornus. The Sea Goat."_

" _Sea Goat?" Sam repeated, scrunching her nose slightly._

" _Yup." Danny grinned, popping the 'p'. "Half goat, half…" He paused for suspension, raising one eyebrow and drawing it out until Sam glared and shoved his shoulder impatiently. "Fish."_

 _Sam pulled a face at that, gaze drifting upwards as she tried to imagine that. "You know the weirdest things, Danny." She finally decided and he couldn't help but laugh at that._

" _I guess. Oh, look, there it is- Columba." Danny pointed, tracing the familiar outline in the sky._

" _Why do you have all these memorized anyway? I know you want to be an astronaut, but you even have the meanings and histories down." Sam asked, shifting slightly to fully face him._

 _Danny tilted his head back with a thoughtful hum. "I guess… because it's space and my parents are scientists." At her confused look, he elaborated, "When I was six, my mom would always tell me that the_ _ **reason**_ _for things is usually more interesting than the thing itself. You could have a glowing ball of light that looks really cool, but finding out how it works and, more importantly,_ _ **why**_ _\- that's always been the fun part for me. Constellations don't really have a how or why, but they have a when and a symbolic name. What's the point of saying 'ooh, neat' without knowing the history behind it?" His serious demeanor dropped and he cracked a grin, "Besides, it's_ _ **space**_ _."_

 _Sam stared at him for a moment before repeating, "You know the weirdest things, Danny. But that's not a bad thing."_

* * *

 **Don't ever listen to me when I say "soon". I can only write chapters when I'm motivated enough and while I** _ **was**_ **motivated, it wasn't for this particular chapter. Anyway, I have the next chapter pretty much written in my mind already, but I just took three absurdly long car trips in a row, so it might be a couple days.**

 **Hope you enjoyed the chapter, sorry for the wait.**

 **Hybridkylin-** Thanks ^^ Glad you liked it.

 **DannySamPhantom-** I will keep updating, it just might take a bit to finish. Thanks for the thumbs up though!

 **Great** \- I might not use them for what you think, but I will be borrowing one of those names for a different character. Those are all really good though, so thanks! And don't apologize for the last review. I wasn't offended or anything, I was just commenting that it wasn't just a flipped version. Thanks for your support! :)


	7. Chapter 7

Breath of Life – Chapter 7  
 _Bittersweet Reunion (Part 2)_

Tucker stared at the phone resting in his palm for a moment, lost in his thoughts. Sam really had sounded better than she had ever since Tuesday. Honestly, he'd thought that she would be stuck in a rut for the next week or so at the very least. But this turn-around worried him. Nobody got over the loss of a loved one- because she could argue all she wanted, Tucker wasn't blind enough not to see that his two best friends were heads over heels for each other- in just a few days. So, this was either a _Sam_ thing that Da- _he_ would understand, but Tucker wouldn't be able to figure out for a while, or she was suppressing her emotions. If she really _was_ getting past her grief, that was a good thing, but Tucker doubted that.

 _I guess I'm about to find out_. Tucker sighed inwardly as he closed his laptop and set aside the last of his schoolwork. He picked his way carefully across the jumble of tech in his room, cautious about not tripping over any of the wires. His dad liked to complain that his room was impossible to navigate, but his mom was usually okay with it. As long as his chores and schoolwork were done and it was only the jumble of wires making his room look like an electrical jungle, then he was in the clear.

"Mom?" Tucker called when he slipped out the door and jogged down the steps.

"In here, sweetie." His mother's voice answered and Tucker headed towards the living room. She smiled at the sight of him, eyes clearly gleaming with relief. Tucker felt a brief wave of guilt for making her worry battling with his grief. All he'd wanted to do for the past few days was curl up on his bed and stare at the wall like it held the answer to why Da- his best friend had died so young. But the promise he'd made a year ago had rung in his head and he'd forced himself to get up and be there for Sam. Still, he didn't come out of his room except for school and to eat- when he was reminded to, at least. His parents were happy that he was still getting up and getting ready for the day and allowed him to have his space for now. His dad would still call him downstairs for a little bit, usually just to sit on the couch and mindlessly watch a television show or something, but Tucker had to admit he felt a lot better than he had on Tuesday. Especially when he compared his treatment to Sam's, who was relying entirely on him for emotional support. Tucker had only just realized the enormous weight on Da- his best friend's shoulder in the past few days. Sam couldn't turn to her family for any of her problems. Even her grandmother was out of the question, because her parents got involved too much. Her grandmother was hot-headed and stubborn and often got into arguments with Sam's parents over how they handled things- including Sam's own life. Going to her grandmother would be just like adding fuel to the fire.

 _And now he's gone_. Tucker swallowed thickly and returned the smile shakily. "Mom, could you drive me down to Sam's? She, ah, just called…" He trailed off and waved his phone for explanation and his mother's expression turned sympathetic.

"Of course, Tucker." She answered and Tucker breathed a sigh of relief. He needn't have worried in the first place. His parents didn't exactly _hate_ the older Mansons, but he'd heard them talking about how terrible their treatment of Sam was- especially after what happened to- with the portal accident. "Let me grab my keys and tell your father."

Tucker nodded and headed out the front door towards the driveway where his mother's van was parked. The car lights flashed with the distinctive clunking noise of the doors unlocking and Tucker robotically climbed into the passenger seat. He took a long, slow breath while his mother started the car to get his emotions under control. It was hard to deal with the grief and he still couldn't handle a conversation that reminded him of… the youngest Fenton, but he was getting better. It felt more like a heavy blanket that he was stuck in the middle of than the heavy, oppressing darkness from before. Like he'd been buried alive.

He couldn't tell if it was easier to handle around Sam or not. She was the only person- minus the Fentons- who could understand how he felt right now, but she seemed to be drowning faster than he could keep his promise. Every time he felt like he'd made a little bit of success against her grief, he'd see her the next day so far gone that she'd walk into the wrong classroom or something. Not even the A-Listers could find it in them to taunt her when she walked around the school like a zombie.

But she _had_ sounded better over the phone-

"Call me when you're ready to come home." His mother's gentle voice interrupted his thoughts and the sad look in her eyes let him know that she knew exactly what he had been thinking about throughout the drive.

Tucker felt his throat constrict and he choked on his reply, settling for a clear nod instead. His mom's mouth opened for a moment, like she was going to say something else, but she just closed it with a small shake of her head and an encouraging smile.

Somehow, that just made him feel worse.

He'd promised to keep his head level, to be strong for Sam's sake. She was the one who didn't quite know how to cry, but Tucker was starting to wonder if he'd forgotten how to, too. He'd clenched his teeth and pushed against the grief for so long it was just a dead weight in the center of his chest.

"I will." He forced out and climbed out of the car, inhaling the fresh air outside as the van pulled away. For a moment, he'd felt trapped.

 _Keep it together, Foley._ Tucker growled at himself and walked towards the door. Before he even had the chance to knock, Sam had opened the door and literally dragged him inside, shutting the door with a decisive _snap_.

"Sam?" Tucker yelped in surprise, abruptly startled out of his mood. He blinked in surprise at the Goth in front of him. She was still wearing all black and had shadows under her eyes, but her hair looked like it had been carefully combed through again and her eyes looked more… _alive_ than he'd seen in days.

Sam grabbed his wrist and dragged him up the stairs without a word, obviously worked up about something. He couldn't pinpoint her mood exactly. All he knew was that she looked like she'd only _physically_ gone through the stages of grief.

"What's going-" Tucker finally asked as Sam shoved him through the door into her room, only to be cut off by a voice he hadn't thought he would hear again in… well, ever.

"Tucker."

Said Technogeek slowly turned towards the speaker, voice dying in his throat. His mind didn't seem quite able to keep up with his eyes. Surely he was imagining things. But no, his eyes were quite insistent that he was actually there. Standing smack in front of him and-

"Dude," Tucker blurted, " _What_ are you _wearing_?"

Danny blinked at him for a moment before looking down at his attire. "It's Greek." The black-haired teen answered, picking at the tunic-like shirt. "A _chiton_ n' stuff. Y'know, the things from that one English class with that _really_ short teacher?"

"Mrs. McRae?" Tucker replied and Danny nodded.

"Yeah. Sounds right."

Tucker's brain chose that moment to finally catch up with reality and he promptly made some weird sort of choking sound. " _Danny_?"

The teen shifted uncomfortably and held up one hand. "Hey." His vivid blue gaze dropped to the floor. Tucker frowned at the guilt he saw plain as day in Danny's expression.

 _He hasn't got it in his head that it's-_

Tucker sighed exasperatedly. _It's_ _ **Danny**_ _. Of course he does._

"Dude, it's not your fault."

Danny's head snapped up, eyes burning with an argument. "But if I'd just-"

"Who asked you to go into the portal?" Tucker interrupted firmly.

He hesitated for a moment and answered in a rush, "I could have just as easily-"

"What, left? What if Sam or I decided to go in instead?" Tucker countered disbelievingly, "Danny, you wouldn't have walked away if we _paid_ you. It's our fault for not listening when your tried to tell us no."

The guilt didn't quite fade from his best friend's expression. "I should have tried to come back sooner." He replied quietly.

Tucker and Sam frowned simultaneously. "What are you talking about?"

Tucker felt a shiver run through him at the helplessness that suddenly appeared in Danny's eye. "I-" He stopped and gestured for the two of them to sit as he began pacing around the room.

Tucker remained quiet, realizing that whatever it was that was bugging Danny was important, but he didn't quite know what to say. He started and stopped a few times, like he'd thought of something to say, but changed his mind at the last second, before he finally sighed in defeat and turned to face them.

"I really don't know how else to say this, so I'm just going to be blunt. I _would_ just show you, but I don't have control over it yet, so… here goes." Danny faltered for a moment before steeling himself and continuing. "I'm… half ghost."

Silence reigned among the trio and Tucker just stared at his friend in shock, struggling to process what he'd just heard. Danny plunged straight through the shocked silence, apparently trying to get as much out as possible.

"I don't really know what exactly happened or why, but after getting zapped by the portal, I wound up in the Ghost Zone. The thing is, that I 'woke up' with white hair and green eyes and I could fly around and stuff. Long story short, I wandered around looking for a way back before I came across the ghost version of Athens and was saved by its ruler- Pandora- from the lizard-ish ghost that wanted to kill me. She's the one who explained where I was and what I was."

Tucker analyzed Danny's open expression closely. Really, the fact that he was so visibly trying to express that he was telling the truth was more than enough proof for the Technogeek. Danny was never this expressive around other people. It was as much of a challenge to get him to open up as it was to get Sam to do so. His parents were too obsessed with ghosts to really be as doting as his own and his sister behaved far too much like a textbook psychiatrist for Danny to ever feel comfortable talking to her. He'd become fairly closed off as a result. For him to be so desperate for them to believe him…

But really, half _ghost_?

"That's…" Tucker trailed off, lacking the words to voice his thoughts. Sam solved that problem.

"Alright." The Goth pushed forward. "So, where do we go from here? Is this a good thing? Or… what?"

A mixture of guilt and relief and surprise was visible, plain as day, on Danny's expression. He slowly sank into the desk chair and clasped his hands together, staring intently at the ground. Tucker felt an ominous sensation sweep over him. Something told him he would not like what Danny was about to say next.

"Honestly… it never really occurred to me that 'this'," he gestured towards himself in an encompassing gesture, "was really a 'bad' thing." Danny paused for a moment, searching for words. "It just sort of _is_. I guess. In my head, I just sort of went from human to halfa. Half-human, half-ghost." He added at their puzzled glances. He hesitated again before continuing in a quieter voice. "While I was recovering from the accident, Pandora told me about this other halfa. He's the only other one and, well, she really only told me that he did some pretty bad stuff. She says it's really dangerous to just _be_ a halfa and my new, uh, _powers_ were going to get more and more difficult to control." Danny brought his hands up and rested his forehead on his knuckles. Tucker frowned at the gesture. He only did that when he had a bad headache or wasn't feeling very good. Was he still feeling… uh, sick? from the portal accident? "Pandora… she offered to train me, but…" Danny faltered again and glanced uncertainly up at them before pressing on tentatively. "She can't do that if I stay here; in the human world. I have to stay in the Ghost Zone."

Tucker felt dread plummet through his stomach and, judging by the way he hands were tightening, Sam felt the same way.

"Which means, I can't come back here and visit or anything like that. She said I could either stay here and try to figure it out on my own, or I could stay with her and she would teach me, but… I have to stay in the Ghost Zone for three years."

Tucker felt like every ounce of relief that he'd gotten from seeing that Danny was still alive had just been brutally torn away from him.

 _Three years?!_

He hadn't realized that he'd spoken aloud until Danny nodded. "Yeah." Another pause. Tucker felt his blood freeze at the guilt in Danny's eyes. "I told her I would stay. With her. In the Ghost Zone."

"Wha- _why_?!" Sam beat him to it, leaping to her feet and practically shouting in response. Danny flinched back and Tucker placed a restraining hand on Sam's shoulder, who deflated at once. "Why?" She repeated, quieter now.

Danny sighed and looked away. "I'm already having difficulty controlling my powers, guys. I can't control my transformations, much less anything else that'll suddenly come my way. I can only imagine what mom and dad would do if they found out." He returned his intense blue gaze to them and Tucker suddenly felt like he was drowning in the regret he saw there. "Pandora warned me that if someone tried to separate my human and ghost halves that the trauma of the act would most likely kill me- and it probably wouldn't work anyway." And for the briefest second, Tucker saw something spark in the back of those eyes. "And it's a-whole-nother _world_ in there. Languages and customs and territories… these ghosts are so _alive_." A small laugh escaped him, like he couldn't believe the absurdity of that statement. "I've got this whole other half of me to learn about, and I just- " Danny tugged at his hair in frustration, "I can't ignore that. This ghost half of me. I can feel it. I've got this whole new set of instincts and senses just running around in my head."

That wild light had reappeared in Danny's eyes and Tucker suddenly realized that he was looking at someone who was relearning how to be _himself_ again.

"Okay." Tucker finally spoke up, his voice steadier than he thought.

Danny blinked in surprise. "You're not… you're not mad?"

Tucker let out a long breath and shook his head. "Nah. I mean, I don't really want you to go and I don't really get all of…" He trailed off and half-gestured at the black-haired teen. "But I know that you wouldn't do something like this if you didn't really need to."

 _Or want to_. Tucker added silently, knowing how much Danny hated that selfish side of himself. It was true that he didn't want his best friend to vanish for another three years, but… well, if he wanted to go so badly- if he felt like he _needed_ to- then Tucker wasn't going to fight. Besides, three years wasn't forever. Not like when he thought Danny was _dead_.

"You said that you can't come visit, but can we?" Sam asked the question that he'd been turning over in his mind.

Danny hesitated and shrugged helplessly. "I can ask Pandora, but I'm not sure. Most ghosts don't like humans very much. I only get away with it because I can pretend to be a full ghost after I learn to control my transformations. Maybe one day you can visit, but I'm not sure when."

Sam nodded and abruptly stood. "Sam?" The other two teens chorused in surprise as she walked over to her nightstand and dug through one of the drawers. Tucker watched as she tossed some small grey object towards Danny, who caught it reflexively, juggling it slightly as he had to lean forward a bit to reach it.

"A phone?" Danny asked, looking up just in time to catch the charging that Sam flung in his direction.

"I don't care how, but you better figure out some way to make that thing work in the Ghost Zone, because you are calling us _every day_." Sam ordered sternly.

"Yeah, man. And if you miss even one day, we'll come hunt you down in there." Tucker added.

Danny stared at the both of them and a grin slowly made its way across his lips. "You guys are awesome."

"And don't you forget it." Tucker replied.

Sam broke the moment with a serious question. "Danny, have you gone to see-?"

"No." Danny interrupted. "And I'm not going to. Maybe I'll see them again after the three years are up, but I can't hurt them like that. You know my parents will just try to find a way to 'fix' me and I can't just ask Jazz to keep a secret like this from my parents. You guys don't have to see them every day."

Sam nodded reluctantly, obviously not as certain as Danny on that point.

A far more relaxed silence surrounded the trio as Danny suddenly straightened. "Oh, Tuck, before I forget, did you get 'zapped' by the portal somewhere?"

"Yeah." Tucker answered slowly, raising his left arm. "By my elbow. Why? _Whoa_." He added, astonished, as Danny brought one hand close to his elbow and a small, glowing green dot appeared on the inside of his elbow.

"I don't really know what those things are, but they're connected to my ghost half somehow. Sam's does the same thing." Danny replied as he pulled his hand away.

"No offense, man, but _we're_ not going to turn into ghosts too, are we? Because I'm not sure my dad would be too thrilled about us vanishing for three years."

Danny shook his head with an amused grin. "I doubt it, Tuck. From what I can tell, it's not expanding or really interacting with your systems beyond lighting up like a firefly every time I get too close."

Tucker nodded as Danny continued, "But, if you want, you can come with me back to Pandora and she can take a look at 'em."

Sam looked up sharply. "Pandora's here?"

The halfa of the group nodded. "She's the one who got me back to Amity. C'mon, I'll take you to her." He stood and paused by the window, realizing that they probably couldn't climb down like he could. "Meet me in the backyard."

Tucker watched as Danny vanished out the window and exchanged a glance with Sam.

"Why do I feel like the world just started spinning backwards?" He asked dazedly, staring at the spot where Danny had just been. Now that his non-deceased best friend wasn't in the room, it was harder to believe that it wasn't all just one long dream.

Sam just gave him an exasperated sigh in reply and dragged him out of her room. Tucker dragged his feet in response, struggling to bring Sam to a halt.

"Sam-" Tucker huffed, yanking backwards and finally getting the Goth's attention. "Are you really okay with this?"

Sure, anyone else would look at them oddly for being so willing to let one of the people they cared about the most head off to who-knows-where for the next three years, but they were the Golden Trio. If Danny said he would come back, then he'd come back. Maybe it would take a while to really wrap their minds around Danny being half _ghost_ and all, but it was just a thing now. Tucker didn't exactly _want_ to send his best friend off for the next three years, but he found that he was surprisingly okay with it. It was important enough to Danny that he would pick the Ghost Zone over them, after all, which he'd never done before. But it was Sam he was really worried about. She would _probably_ be okay with it, but she'd really taken Danny's "death" hard. He wasn't sure she could handle Danny vanishing from her life again so soon after she just got him back.

Sam eased his worries with a nod. "I'm not exactly thrilled about it, but… it's Danny." The Goth answered. "He wouldn't do this if it wasn't important." Her eyes held a flicker of reluctance, however, and Tucker knew she'd be alright.

Tucker grinned as something completely out of place occurred to him. "Hey, y'know… didn't we want to meet a ghost on Tuesday?"

Sam just rolled her eyes in response.

* * *

 **So, this isn't as emotional as the last chapter and I'd like to apologize for the delay. It took longer than I thought to write this chapter. At first, it was supposed to be a bit more emotional or emotionally-focused or whatever, but then I realized that the reason I was having difficulty writing that was because that wasn't really in character for Tucker.**

 **Now, I'm not saying Sam is overly-emotional or anything either, I'm just saying that Tucker's never really had that emotionally damaging moment in the TV show. A "reunion" of sorts in this sort of situation between Tucker and Danny probably** _ **would**_ **be more casual. "Just take a moment to wrap your head around it and move on" sort of thing. Sam's also not as upset in this chapter because she- well, the whole Trio, really- does that same move on sort of thing. I feel like they really gained that trait** _ **after**_ **they started all the ghost fighting, but I decided to speed that up a bit by changing their family dynamics a bit.**

 **I'm being a bit cruel to all three of them here, so please don't hate me for that. As far as Sam's family life goes, her relationship with her parents is probably even worse than it is in the TV show. They** _ **really**_ **don't get along and see Sam's life as something that's up to them to control. I know, terrible. Sam does still have a good relationship with her grandmother, but their a bit more distant because her grandmother is more vocal about defending Sam than she is in the show and Sam doesn't really see the point, so she doesn't talk to her grandmother much in order to avoid making things worse.**

 **Tucker, really, is the only one with a healthy family life. There's really no problems there, but they're not the most close-knit family in history either. They're really just like your average family.**

 **Danny, however, has a strained relationship with his parents. They're, uh,** _ **really**_ **close-minded and Danny just doesn't understand that. He's been taught his whole life by** _ **his parents**_ **to keep an open mind, but- for example- they run around preaching that all ghosts are evil without even bothering to confirm that. There are other things that get in the way, but I'll get into those later. His relationship with Jazz hasn't changed much, though. But don't mistake this for him loving his family any less. They just don't get along as much, so Danny's even less likely to go to them about something than he is in the TV show.**

 **So, this chapter is actually a whole page short. Yes, I know, I'm terrible. Sorry. But if I dragged out any of these scenes they would've been terrible and there's nothing I really needed/wanted to add, so…**

 _ **Anyway**_ **:**

 **Great-** Glad you like everything and thanks! ^^ I tried hard on that fluff. As for everything else: _no comment_. XD

 **The Fan of awesome-** Yay! :D Sorry about the wait. Hope this chapter was worth it!

 **Guest** _and_ **Sophia the daughter of Nyx-** Thanks for your reviews!

 **Bye!**


	8. Chapter 8

Breath of Life – Chapter 8  
 _Haywire_

Danny rolled over with a soundless yawn and snuggled closer to his pillow while pulling his sheets tighter. He kept his eyes firmly shut, unwilling to wake up. He was most definitely warm and cozy right where he was and he had no reason to get up at-

The filter of green ectolight abruptly turned black and Danny's eyes snapped open with an unwilling groan. Clinging to the tingling sensation racing across his skin, he rolled out from underneath his bed and unsteadily climbed to his feet. He sighed and crossed his arms impatiently while he waited for the intangibility to pass. He never had these problems while he was asleep- Pandora was still speculating the reason for that- but the moment he woke up, he was doomed to another day of battling with his ghost powers.

In fact, his last quiet day had been when he'd gone to visit Sam and Tucker. After he'd explained to them what had happened to him, he introduced them to Pandora and the trio had begged her to let Danny stay with them for the rest of the day. The four-armed ghost had reluctantly agreed and Tucker had headed off to the Nasty Burger to pick them up some food while the other two headed back to Sam's house. Her parents were out for the rest of the day, so there hadn't been much of a risk beyond her grandmother- who didn't come upstairs very often, from what Danny could gather.

The next day, his powers had started acting up. Intangibility, invisibility, random transformations, and sometimes he would even float a foot off the ground. It was enough to drive the teenage halfa mad. Every day was spent battling against his ghost powers and he spent _hours_ training with Pandora, trying to learn how to control his core. So far, he hadn't been successful.

It had been a week and a half and the only thing that had really been a relief to Danny was redecorating his room. It was a painstaking process considering his wild powers, but Pandora usually instructed one or two of her servants to be in there with him in case he accidentally dropped something. _Again_. Still, it was worth it.

The flooring had been replaced with a thick, silvery-white carpet that Danny would swear up and down that it _had_ to be made of silk. The furniture had been replaced with a wardrobe, a dresser, a large bookshelf, a full-length mirror, a desk with a comfortable cushion-seated chair, and a couple of shelves bolted to the walls- all of which were a deep, soft brown-grey color. The wardrobe and dresser had promptly been filled with a new set of clothes for him as well as a few old pairs that Sam and Tucker had smuggled out pf his room at FentonWorks. (He'd volunteered to go in instead, but the two humans and a ghost had promptly squashed that by replying that he couldn't risk being seen.) Most everything else was bare, since he couldn't really risk taking anything from home incase his family noticed. Sam _had_ bought him a large stack of college-ruled journals and an incredible amount of pens, pencils, sharpeners, and erasers. He'd taken up a habit of writing when he was younger- usually just his thoughts, theories, or ideas- and that had progressed into full-blown analyses which had eventually bled through to his creativity stream and encouraged him to begin short stories. He owned tons of old journals- which were kept in a box in his closet- that were filled cover to cover with a mixture of scientific and fictional to sci-fi writings. He was more than grateful that Sam had decided to send him off with all of this stuff. He might've gone mad if he couldn't write. And when he said she'd given him _a lot_ of stuff, he meant _a lot_. No less than thirty journals- each of which were one of those three-in-ones- and who knew _how_ many pens and pencils were bound up together on his desk. He'd have to get her an amazing birthday present.

Not to be outdone, Tucker had given the halfa a fair-sized box of what looked to be small, round balls of metal. Really, they were all magnetic and in perfect condition. Tucker- who he still marveled at because he was failing school and struggled with half his courses, yet still managed to do stuff like _this_ \- had made them himself. His best friend had known that Danny still loved to build things- which was why quite a few items of his home collection were put-it-togethers- and Tucker had given him exactly what he needed to do exactly that. He could built the magnetic marbles however he wanted, take a picture, and start all over again. Tucker apparently used to use them himself when thinking over his own things, but he was more than willing to hand them off to Danny.

There was currently a half-finished Eiffel Tower sitting in the middle of his room.

His bedsheets had taken some time to match to the rest of the room. He'd wanted everything to blend with the walls- which he was _still_ finishing up- but he hadn't wanted to live in a completely black and white world. At first, he was just going to go with grey furniture (so it blended into the walls), but Pandora had persuaded him to go with some with a brown hue so everything didn't look monotone. As a result, the bed needed to have different coloring to pull the room together. They had finally settled on sheet that were mid-to-dark colored green and blue. They were mostly green with thin blue lines crossing all over them to form small, slightly rounded diamonds. There were three sets of pillows- one decorative and two to be used. The decorative pillowed matched the bedspread, but in reverse with a mostly blue covering and green lines, while the other two sets were sold colors- one being green and the other blue.

It had been far trickier to get Pandora to agree to the walls, however. After all, people just _did not_ paint their bedrooms _black_ , of all colors. It had taken a solid three days of coaxing to finally get her to agree and to do so he'd had to tell her that he was planning on painting the constellations of the human world sky on it by interconnecting them all. He'd planned to keep it as a surprise, but he supposed she would get a surprise anyway. Pandora was very knowledgeable about the human world, true, but she never really stayed out there to stare at the night sky. She lived in the Ghost Zone and coming to the human world was dangerous for most ghosts, no matter how powerful. He'd finally decided to extend the constellations onto the ceiling, as he had no idea what else to do with it, he didn't really have enough room on just the walls, and it would look odd if he just left it white or whatever other color he decided to paint it.

All in all, his room was quite nice, especially since Pandora had gotten him ectoplasm-infused paint for the stars in the constellations, allowing them to glow after night had come in the Ghost Zone. The bathroom remained unchanged, since Danny was really fine with the warm-colored tile and saw no pressing need to change it.

The wash of warmth from the intangibility finally fading pulled him out of his thoughts and Danny turned to dress for the day. Glancing out the window in his room, he stared at the green swirls of the Ghost Zone for a moment before determining that it was roughly mid-morning, going on late. He was still learning to tell time here, but it was trickier than learning how to read the sun's position. The "sky" here was constantly green, but at night they turned so dark they _looked_ black. In the mornings they were a sort of mid-toned green with white-ish hues forming around the edges. In the afternoon, they were just a bright, flat green and in the evening they simply progressed steadily darker and began to take on a black hue. Pandora said that a practiced eye could see the slight differences in the shades hour by hour, but Danny wasn't anywhere near being able to do that yet.

What he guessed was about ten to fifteen minutes later, he slipped out the door and began his routine of wandering the halls. The palace wasn't exactly _massive_ , but it was large enough to easily get lost in if you didn't learn the layout fast enough. He'd already found the fastest route from his room to the kitchens- he had been _starving_ lately- and the gardens/grounds out back. Pandora had requested that he stay in the palace until he learned to control his core. She trusted her staff not to run off and announce that a human was in the Infinite Realms, but some of her people were terrified of humans. Danny was actually fairly lucky that only one friendly ghost had noticed him when he'd gone to the market.

And yesterday, he'd found the library.

He wasn't a bookworm like Jazz, but Danny wasn't averse to reading as long as it wasn't something old and complicated, like Shakespeare or something. The language took _far_ too long to translate in his head and he was tired of listening to every single English teacher _ever_ prattle on about how "amazing" the books were. They were incredible pieces of work and renown as the classics and ya-da, ya-da, ya-da. Seriously. They _got_ it, so _stop drilling it into their heads over and over again_!

But, Danny did like the books here. It was interesting to read things written by ghosts. The idea of what made a poem a poem, or what was considered a 'classic' or 'noteworthy' book was different than in the human world. It mirrored human literature to an extent- just like everything else here- but it was also unique. It was fun to read them and get into the mindset of a ghost. Pandora had cautioned him to leave the more factual books until later. He'd be learning all of it later and it would be easier for him to understand with someone else there to explain. Especially since, like every book written since ever, there was bound to be a biased point of view.

So when he wasn't training with Pandora, he'd stop by the kitchens to grab a snack and then take a couple books from the library and go sit in the gardens and spend a few hours reading. It was nice to be outside, since most of the palace had been busy lately and he hated simply staying cooped up in his room.

So, despite the haywire ghost powers, life here was fairly good.

Except for the part where he was still sick. He never knew when it would happen, but he would suddenly have another dizzy spell like he'd had over at Sam's. A few times, he'd actually passed out and lately he'd been running a constant fever. Not much, just a couple degrees, but it was enough to make Pandora worry. The fact that his ghost powers altered his temperature every time they went off didn't help. _He_ couldn't tell that he had a fever, but the doctor- a kind ghost by the name of Airmed*- Pandora had staffed warned him daily that it wasn't going away. However, Danny still refused to be restricted to bedrest. He'd go insane.

Today, he was sitting outside the Pegasus pasture, listening to the winged ghosts run or fly or graze on the vivid grass- most of which was neon blue, but there were a few other colors. Never let it be said that the Ghost Zone wasn't colorful. Propping open one of the few history books Pandora had given him leeway to read (all of which were actually quite interesting. Possibly because it was all something he'd never heard before. Ever.) –this one was on the ever-changing monarchy of the Ghost Zone- Danny leaned back against one of the fence posts and pulled an apple out of the snack bag Humphry had given him.

Immediately, there was an interested snuffling behind him and spotted Iluvia trotting over to him, tail swishing behind her. Hey honey-yellow eyes were fixed on the treat in his hand and Danny tossed it to her without complaint. The Pegasus snatched the apple out of the air and proceeded to crunch it between her teeth before jumping over the fence and laying down next to him, allowing the halfa to lean against her soft side.

Ever since they'd gotten back, Iluvia had taken it upon herself to look after Danny whenever he wandered the grounds without Pandora. Evidently, the Pegasus had caught onto the fact that the teenage halfa was her rider's temporary ward and decided that she liked the teen after all. The two weren't quite friends, but they were comfortable enough around each other. Danny found that being around the welcoming Pegasus eased the guilt he felt from leaving Sam and Tucker behind some. Perhaps because she had been there when he'd said good-bye and obviously didn't judge him for it, or maybe because Iluvia simply seemed content to have him there. Either way, Danny was grateful for the Pegasus's unconditional presence.

Settling back, Danny picked up where he left off in the book. He hadn't been reading for long- or so he'd thought before he looked up and realized that he'd missed lunch- when a familiar figure crossed the grounds towards him.

Danny waved at the stable master. He was a short ghost who was dressed almost constantly in a cowboy outfit and had a shaggy head of yellow hair and a beard to match. His eyes, like most ghosts, were bright red and he had a neutral green skin color. He had a gruff temperament, but wasn't unwelcoming as long as you weren't constantly in the way and worked to pull your weight. His name was Perseus*, which Danny thought was hilarious to no end.

"Hey, Percy." Danny greeted, which earned him a grunt and a glare in response. Perseus hated the nickname, but Danny just thought that was funny too. "What's up?"

"You missed lunch." The ghost replied exasperatedly. "The Queen is worried." Perseus glanced at Iluvia, who had opened one eye watchfully. "And Iluvia is due for a bath."

Said Pegasus snorted and picked her head up, turning a glare on to the ghost.

Danny quickly intervened, "You look as beautiful as ever, Iluvia. I'm sure that Percy here just wants to make sure you stay that way."

Most Pegasi wouldn't have understood a word of what had just happened, but Iluvia was one of the rare Higher Breed. She understood language perfectly, even if she couldn't speak. Faster, stronger, larger, and more intelligent than regular Pegasi, their one weakness was that they required more food more frequently. Starvation could kill a Higher Breed in less than a week. They used a lot of energy to maintain themselves and some even had ghost abilities.

Iluvia judged his words, probably aware that he was just stroking her vanity, but decided that she was okay with that and willingly stood up, appeased.

"I take it I should go find Pandora?" Danny asked, turning back to Perseus, who grunted in response again. Danny took that as a "yes" and closed the book he had been reading and handed the last of what was in his snack bag to Perseus- who took them without a word, but Danny knew he appreciated the gesture.

Ignoring the headache he'd woken up with and his quickening heartrate, Danny headed back towards the palace while trying to guess where Pandora would be now. If she was looking for him and worried, then she had probably already checked his room and the library, so if he hadn't seen her, she was probably heading for the stables. Assuming she checked his room first, Danny headed for the library. Hopefully, she'd be coming straight from there and he could cut her off.

He was wrong, however, and by the time he'd gotten to the library, in a fairly bad shape. Danny collapsed into the nearest chair, breathing slowly in and out while he tried to even out his rising temperature and chase away the darkness at the edges of his vision.

He faintly heard the voice of one of the staff asking if he was alright and responded by muttering, "Find Pandora, please."

What felt like a few seconds later, he was being nudged into awareness by Pandora; who was frowning worriedly at him. Danny blinked fuzzily at her for a moment, wondering why she was there, before his brain caught up to him. Oh. He'd passed out again.

"Danny, I don't think we should train today." The four-armed Queen started. Danny quickly made to argue, but was cut off by the full ghost. "I've been trying to wake you up for _ten minutes_ , Daniel." Her tone was stern and Danny was cowed by the use of his name. Just like his mother, she only used it when she was really worried or upset.

Danny relented with a sigh. "Alright."

The ghost smiled at him in relief and stood back some. "You should go see Airmed again. Do you think you can walk?" Pandora asked and Danny nodded, rising to his feet shakily. He took a few uneven steps before he managed to get his balance back under control and followed Pandora down the maze of halls.

Airmed's "office" of a sort was conveniently placed nearby the East Wing of the palace, where all of the bedrooms were. The library, being near the center, wasn't too far of a walk either. Still, by the time they got there, Danny was ready to sleep for a week.

It was less formal than any human doctor's office that Danny had ever been too. The walls and floor were still primarily tile or stone or whatever it was they made it out of, but they weren't white and the place was decorated invitingly. There were a couple cushioned chairs sitting in the corner and even the patient's bed was fairly comfortable. Some of the only things revealing what the room was were the numerous doctor's tools and medical charts on the countertops and walls.

"Hey, Airmed." Danny chirped in greeting, offering the medical ghost a tired grin. Airmed was very pretty for a ghost, with fine, soft features and gray-ish, white skin that reminded Danny of clouds just beginning to turn into rainclouds. Her hair was long and purple-blue; and she let it fall around her shoulders in waves. She also possessed a pair of golden-white feathered wings, which Danny thought was ironically fitting. Her eyes were red as well, but a richer shade that Danny associated with autumn leaves.

"Danny?" Airmed turned to greet him with a smile, but abruptly frowned instead and ushered him over to the bed. "You're as white as a sheet!" The doctor exclaimed worriedly. "Did you have another fainting spell?"

Pandora answered for him. "Yes, Airmed. I found him in the library. It took me ten minutes to wake him up."

The ghostly doctor immediately subjected the halfa to a series of tests, muttering under her breath the whole time. Danny shifted uncomfortably under the intense scrutiny. The last time he remembered going to the doctor was when he was five. Having Airmed hover over him was odd. Not even his parents had ever fussed over him this much.

Roughly twenty minutes later, Airmed sat back with an exasperated sigh. "Nothing. I can't tell you why _any_ of this is happening."

Pandora looked sincerely shocked and Danny wondered if Airmed had ever _not_ been able to diagnose something before. "Why not?"

Airmed gestures to the items littering the countertop. "These tools are met for ghosts, Your Highness. I can get a faint read from Danny because of his half-ghost status, but despite his fluctuating powers, his core is too suppressed for a true diagnosis. Unless he can bring his core to the surface without actually transforming, I cannot tell you what is wrong."

All three ghosts in the room instantly saw the problem. Drawing his ghost core close to the "surface", so to speak, required an incredible amount of control. Obviously, he couldn't do that considering he couldn't even control his regular transformation.

The youngest ghost in the room titled his head back with a thoughtful expression, musing over the issue. "If I could manage to trigger my ghost form, could you take the tests again in that form and then combine it with the human results?"

Airmed hesitated to answer, turning the solution over in her mind, while Pandora looked cautious.

"Are you sure that's a good idea, Danny? You haven't transformed in the past two days. Forcing it now may disrupt your core again."

Danny nodded reluctantly. That was true. He'd only been dealing with bouts of invisibility and intangibility. Well, along with his ever-increasing bouts of sickness. Pandora and Airmed had theorized that his core was beginning to settle. If he forced it to do something it wasn't capable of handling now, he could set the whole process back. Or worse.

Airmed looked doubtful, even if similarly cautious. "I can't believe that it would really upset his core. Its very purpose is to provide Danny with access to ghost powers and allow him to transform. It might actually help, if anything." Her red eyes flicked over to him. "Do you think you could manage the transformation?"

Danny shrugged helplessly. "I remember what it feels like, but it's always hard to grip. My ghost half just… slips away." He replied in frustration.

"Well, why don't you walk us through what it feels like to you? We may be able to offer some advice." Pandora coached. They'd been practicing for the last few days, but Pandora couldn't help much right now. As a full ghost, she'd never had to learn how to control transformations between two halves.

Danny leaned back some to thick and brought one hand up to tap his chest. "It's like a cold spot right here, next to my heart, that I can always feel- even when none of my ghost powers are acting up. When I'm in ghost mode, I can't feel the cold spot anymore, but I can feel a warm spot where my human... core or heart, I guess, is. Transforming is… I have to reach for that cold spot and sort of _spread_ it. Grab ahold of it and just let it expand until it "fills" up my human self. But I just can't consciously grab my ghost half. Every time I get close, I try to pull on it, but it just fades away."

The winged doctor peered closely at him. "Are you thinking of your human and ghost halves as two separate things?"

Danny opened his mouth to say that no, of course not, because two halves made a whole so they were obviously both him, but snapped his mouth shut instead. He _was_ thinking of them as two separate things, wasn't he? The ghost and human in him _were_ just him, but he was thinking of them as two separate halves that added up to make him. And even then, he primarily thought of himself as human. But… that wasn't the case. Not anymore.

 _I'm a halfa._ Danny realized. _Not human, not ghost; not half-human, not half-ghost. Just a halfa._

At that thought, Danny felt a wave of cold ripple over him and he reached for the cold spot somewhere by his heart. It hummed to life at his "touch" and began to expand, filling him with a tingle of cool energy. Danny felt the energy concentrate and looked down to see a white ring form around his middle-

And screamed as pain that brutally re-awakened his memories of the Accident ripped through his figure. He could feel his muscles seizing and his joints locking up while his bones shivered and cracked. He could faintly hear Pandora and Airmed panicking through the ringing in his ears, but his jaw had clenched so tight that his teeth ached. He suddenly felt too hot and too cold all at once and, with a final burst of pain, Danny gave in to the blissful relief of unconsciousness.

* * *

 ***Airmed – is the name of the Irish goddess of healing and resurrection**

 ***The joke I'm making here is that Perseus was the son of Zeus who** _ **rode**_ **the first Pegasus, but in the story, he's a ghost who looks nothing like him and is just taking care of the Pegasi.**

 **And wow! 8 reviews on one chapter? Thanks, guys. :) Glad you're liking the story.**

 _ **Anyway**_ **:**

 **Sophia the daughter of Nyx** and **ZeroExia** and **GhostAnn** and **KuriMaster13** and **Blue11msu** – Thanks for the reviews!

 **Great** \- I really do agree with you on that point. I feel like Tucker is in character, but I regret not adding in a few more emotional moments. However, I'm not really sure how to do that _right now_ without going past what's acceptable. Maybe if I get an "oh!" moment somewhere down the line I'll go back and rewrite the chapter.

 **IceTaloned Frafyu** – I have to say, you just saved my hide, you know that? I actually forgot that the reunion came up so soon in the cannon storyline and I've been meaning to mention how the canon will have dates and things pushed around. For one, the ghosts won't be in Amity as much (you'll see why) so a lot of things in the canon won't actually happen at all. Don't worry though, I'm not skipping the reunion.

 **dearoldsam** – Thanks for both of your reviews, they left me feeling all warm and fuzzy. And yes, I am trying to attempt something I haven't really seen around. Really, I have to give credit to everyone who has ever written a _Danny Phantom_ fic, because I went through a period where I read nothing but these fics and noticed that a lot of people don't really try to give "life" to the Ghost Zone. I just can't believe that there's not a long, organized history to the Ghost Zone considering that they have "realms" and even a King and Council (the Observants). That always disappointed me, and when I woke up one morning and noticed that no one had really messed with the "origin" story too much, I had an idea and spent the next few weeks pacing around my house detailing and straightening out the plot. I do agree that the last chapter is a little under-emotional, but I don't quite know what to do with it right now, so I might go back to it later. And I'm very glad that you like this story so much. :)

 **Now, to all of you, I would like to comment that I never expected this sort of response to this story. In just seven chapters I've gained a following faster than I did for** _ **Relapse**_ **(which is currently my most popular fic, not including** _ **Hidden Scars**_ **). In fact, I'm actually believe that this story might surpass** _ **Relapse**_ **.** _ **Relapse**_ **is not planned to be nearly as long as** _ **Breath of Life**_ **is going to be. Really, I doubt** _ **Relapse**_ **will reach thirty chapters. So thank you for your support. Each and every one of you.**

 **On another note, I have finally updated my profile page and will be tracking stories on that now. At the moment, I only have the summaries and comments posted on the chapter lists, but soon I will have the update days and the like on there as well. I also have some info about myself, if you're curious, and a list of ten quick things you should know about my writing. I also have a Quote of the Week (posted every Sunday) up if you just wanted to stop by and read that. As I mention below every section on my profile, feel free to PM me if you have any questions!**

 **I know this chapter lacked the "what do Sam and Tucker think about Pandora" a few of you wanted to read about, but don't worry. I wrote it in this order on purpose. You'll get to see their thoughts.**

 **Hmm, you know, I wonder what's wrong with Danny? *evil grin***


	9. Chapter 9

Breath of Life – Chapter 9  
 _The Last Day_

Sam pulled Tucker out of the door behind her, searching the backyard for the all-too-familiar head of messy black hair. She felt her breath catch and an intense feeling of relief spread through her at spotting Danny across the yard. She wasn't quite ready to let him out of her sight so easily.

 _So are you really ready to say good-bye?_ Sam shoved the little voice in the back of her head down, a frown pulling at her lips. It didn't matter anyway. It wasn't her choice. It wasn't her life. Besides, it's not like she had ever been tossed through a portal, turned into a half-ghost, and come back home to find that everyone thought you were dead.

She felt Tucker relax slightly through the grip she had on his wrist and Sam felt a brief ping of guilt. Of course Tucker would be feeling the same way she was, even if he didn't show it. Danny was his best friend too. In fact, Tucker had known Danny for a longer time than she had. The two were practically brothers. If she was feel this reluctant to let Danny go- even if she knew she would, willingly, in the end- then she could only imagine how he felt.

Tucker interrupted her thoughts with a frown and a mutter of: "Is he alright?"

Sam blinked and looked back at the third member of their trio and found herself sharing Tucker's frown. Danny was leaning heavily against the fence, resting on his shoulder and crossing his arms tightly. His eyes were closed and his brow was furrowed in concentration. He looked paler than he had a few minutes ago and every few seconds he would slip down the fence, only to shift back up again.

Danny opened his eyes and glanced at Tucker and Sam found herself wondering if Danny had heard the comment. But how could he have? Rather than confirm her suspicions or not, the blue-eyed teen simply shook his head fiercely and straightened up. "C'mon, this way. I can't be seen and I'm not sure how to control invisibility yet." He said and scaled the fence quickly, dropping down with a muffled thud on the other side. Tucker followed suit- with a boost from Sam- and then the Goth climbed over herself.

Danny had already crossed the thankfully empty street and was half-hidden in the shadows of an alleyway. The other two teens followed his shadow as closely as they dared, mindful of the windows in the houses around them. Danny led them steadily closer to FentonWorks, and Sam, for a brief moment, wondered if Danny expected them to sneak into the house. That was where the ghost portal was, right?

Instead, Danny abruptly turned down yet another alley to their left and vanished down it. Hesitating for only a moment, Sam and Tucker followed suit. Tucker pulled his sweatshirt tighter and Sam shivered as the air temperature abruptly dropped. The alleyway suddenly seemed darker and longer than it had before and Sam was about to call out for Danny- who had somehow vanished from sight- when he spoke up first.

"Pandora? Iluvia? You there?"

Sam jerked when she heard the voice coming from her immediate right and felt her arm brush against something that was most definitely not there. She yelped, startling Tucker in turn, and Danny cursed lowly at their reactions.

"Of _course_ I'm invisible now. Sorry. Hang on, I think I can-"

And suddenly he was standing there again, eyes narrowed in concentration while he was staring at his outstretched hand. A grin crossed his expression. "Hey, I did it!" And then, he abruptly turned to them, a thoughtful expression on his face. "I should probably tell you not to touch the Pegasus."

"Wha-?"

Any potential questions were cut off by the sudden appearance of two more ghosts. Sam would deny that she shrieked in surprise at that moment for the rest of her life, but that didn't mean it never happened. Clutching at the base of her throat to soothe the sting from her sudden screech, Sam took in the scene in front of her with wide eyes.

The first thing she saw was an absolutely _massive_ ghost, nearly three times taller than her, with light blue skin and pupil-less green eyes. Long, fiery pink hair rippled behind her in a two-part pony-tail. She was dressed in what Sam assumed was some sort of modified version of Greek armor. Danny wearing a _chiton_ suddenly made so much more sense. _So this is Pandora_. Was Sam's first stunned thought.

A heavy snort from behind the first ghost she'd ever met- _actually, would Danny be the first?_ \- drew her attention and Sam numbly recognized that _that_ was what Danny meant by Pegasus. There was, in fact, a massive winged horse standing behind Pandora. It was at least twice the size of the average riding horse; putting it at fourteen or fifteen feet*. Perfect for Pandora's near-twenty. Its coat was light blue with black patches near its spine and hooves and some of the feathers on its wings were also black. The mane and tail were stark white and it had honey-yellow eyes.

"Are all ghosts so… big?" Came Tucker's first coherent comment and Sam stopped breathing for a moment. Fear overrode her senses for a moment and her mind scream at her that his statement could be taken as an insult. The immense _presence_ of the ghost had her hair standing on end and, for some reason, she found herself instinctively looking at Danny. Maybe because logic told her that Danny was friendly and had experience with this ghost, or maybe some part of her recognized Danny as a ghost too- and one she could trust.

He seemed mostly unfazed, if a bit surprised. Sam found that that somehow jarred her back into rational thought. Why would Danny look surprised at the appearance of a ghost he knew? He'd called out to her, hadn't he?

Danny remained oblivious to her inner thoughts and, with a glance at Tucker, asked, "Er… he has a point. Weren't you, uh, _shorter_?"

Pandora was silent for a moment and Sam felt another brief spike of fear, but it was abruptly smashed when the blue-skinned ghost began laughing. It was light and airy and kind, but held a sort of firm power, like she was assured in her strength.

If it was even possible, Pandora's glowing red eyes sparkled with mirth and approval. "I was, yes. Your friends passed my test- as did you. I guessed you would bring them here and I wanted to test the bond between you three. Fear often shows the smallest cracks. If you truly were confident in each other, you would not run and would instead turn to each other for support. You did just that." Sam felt a spark of warmth at the ghost's approving smile and she suddenly found it quite easy to understand why Danny seemed to have so much faith in a ghost he'd just met. Pandora felt… like she just _could_ be trusted. Pandora turned her smile on to Danny, "And you did not flinch and instead stepped closer to your friends. You listened to your instincts, however new they are, and trusted yourself to react to the situation. You've taken the first step."

Danny blinked. "First step to what?"

He only received a mysterious smile in response and, judging by the surrendering sigh he gave, Danny was quite used to the answer. Instead, he murmured a greeting to the massive Pegasus behind Pandora. "How are you, Iluvia?" The newly dubbed Iluvia snorted and tossed her head, but the movement lacked aggression and Pandora smiled when the blue-coated creature gently nudged Danny's shoulder. Sam blinked in surprise when she realized that neither Pandora nor Iluvia looked quite as large as they had a moment ago. Pandora was still easily seven feet, but now the Pegasus looked more around eight to nine feet.

"Right, introductions." Danny said after earning another, more insistent, nudge from the Pegasus. "Sam, Tuck, this Pandora, Queen of Athens, and her loyal steed, Iluvia. Pandora, Iluvia, these are my best friends: Sam Manson and Tucker Foley."

"Queen?" Sam blurted in surprise at the same time that Tucker said, "Athens?"

"Er," Danny stumbled with his usual nervous chuckle, "the ghostly version of it, anyway. But, yeah, Queen."

His attention moved from them to Pandora. "How'd you do that, anyway?"

She smiled at him, obviously pleased by his question. "I did not alter my size so much as your perception of my presence. It's not a skill many ghosts have and it takes a certain knack for it to successfully gauge how much you can use. Too much and the illusion is broken, too little and you don't look intimidating."

Danny nodded at that explanation, satisfied. Sam and Tucker were busy staring wide-eyed at the ghostly duo. This was… certainly not what they expected when they were so eager to meet a ghost on Tuesday. Pandora didn't really meet the images their minds had created. They'd expected something more like from the movies: an intangible, fuzzy specter that you could see right through and wasn't all there. Pandora seemed as alive as any human and Sam could easily picture herself tripping over referring to ghosts as "dead" just because of how energetic she seemed. And from their interactions, Sam could tell that whatever the Ghost Zone was, it wasn't just some empty, desolate place. It must have some sort of structure and order to the chaos, just like living people did. It made her incredibly curious to know what it was like, but she doubted she would be convincing either Danny or Pandora to let her see it any time soon.

She blinked. Speaking of which, hadn't they wanted to ask about letting Danny spend the day with them? Sam glanced over at Tucker and elbowed him to try to rouse him from his slack-jawed state. They were wasting precious time that they could be spending with Danny. First time meeting a ghost or not, she didn't want the day to slip past them.

Tucker shook his head as he came out of his stupor and met her gaze. A flash of realization and guilt crossed his expression. Turning back to face the ghostly duo, Sam noted that Danny appeared to be hesitant and was chewing over his next words. He was obviously uncertain how to proceed and for a brief moment Sam wondered why considering how fearless he seemed to be about addressing everything else with this ghost.

 _And yet, she demanded he spend three years of his life in a strange place away from his loved ones._ Sam frowned at the thought. _That's why he's so hesitant_. She realized. _Even if Pandora is generous enough to help him get back here, she didn't even bat an eye about basically asking him to play dead for three years. Helpful or not, Pandora asked for something big in return for her help_. Sam gazed at the ghostly group curiously. Despite that, Danny seemed quite comfortable in her presence. Was it really that Pandora demanded three years in exchange for her help, or was it a free offer that Danny accepted? That would explain why he seemed to feel so guilty when he told them. He'd bypassed regret and sadness and seemed to blame himself for staying away. Assuming so, maybe Danny just didn't want to ask her to wait for him for another day. It might seem like he was trying to beg for more time. No, he was too skittish for that. So was he nervous about remaining in the human world? _What did Pandora tell him that made him so afraid to stay in the place he's called home for fourteen years?_

Or… there was a second part to their request. Sam and Tucker had wanted to ask if they were allowed to visit him eventually. Was Danny afraid of asking about that? And if that was the case, he'd told the Ghost Zone was dangerous earlier, so whose safety was he worried for?

"Uh… Pandora?" Danny finally began, snatching away Sam's chance at taking the task off his shoulders. "Do… do you think I could stay here?" He backtracked quickly when Pandora shot him a glance of something unreadable. "For the day! For the day, I mean." He repeated, forcing himself to be calm. Danny raised a hand to rub uncertainly at the back of his neck; his tell-tale nervous tick. "I just… they've thought I was… y'know, _gone_ … and now I'm not coming back for three years."

And despite Sam's worries, Pandora simply smiled at the request. "Of course, Danny. I understand. Go and spend the day with your friends. Iluvia and I will meet you here at sunset." Danny smiled in relief, and quickly thanked the tall ghost. "Just remember to stay out of sight." Pandora added warningly, and the teenage halfa nodded in response.

Danny looked just about ready to drag them away when Tucker spoke up. "We wanted to ask; we know Danny is staying with you for three years and that he can't come back here, but… are we allowed to come visit him in the Ghost Zone?"

Their blue-eyed friend froze mid-step, his gaze flickering nervously between them and Pandora. Sam frowned slightly at her best friend's instant response. It was definitely this topic that was making him uneasy, but why? Sam's violet gaze lifted to Pandora, whose expression was unreadable.

Danny sighed and turned around to face the tall Queen. "I know what you said. I don't know what to say." He told her and Pandora nodded in response, her features softening a fraction.

"Neither do I." She sighed. Sam and Tucker exchanged a puzzled glance. Whatever the ghost and halfa were talking about, they were being too vague for them to figure it out. Pandora interrupted their silent conversation. "I cannot give you an answer to that question. Maybe you will be able to visit sometime in the future and maybe you won't. There are… too many variables."

Sam was about to protest- she wanted a more definite answer than that. This was about not seeing her best friend for three years! But, Danny beat both Sam and Tucker to the punch. "Thank you, Pandora." He said hastily, grabbing Sam and Tucker by the wrist and down the alleyway. "I'll see you at sunset."

The Goth and Techno geek duo scowled and tried to pull their wrists free, but were surprised to find that Danny's gentle grip was suddenly as unbreakable as steel. Sam looked at the back of Danny's head with an incalculable expression. From the way Danny had latched on to them, he'd known that they wouldn't be able to break his grip, but he claimed to not have much control over his powers.

So how was he so sure of what he was doing?

* * *

"…-bles were the last place I saw. They're absolutely massive. The pasture for the Pegasi was gigantic, too. And not all Pegasi are as large as Iluvia. Actually, some of them were larger, but you can count those on one hand."

Tucker shook his head disbelievingly. "I don't know what's more difficult to believe: that a place like this exists or that you actually saw it."

Danny chuckled. "That was my first thought, too." Well, really it had been _"ow, my everything still hurts"_ but it was a close second.

"Is it really _green_?" Sam asked, her nose scrunching slightly as she tried to imagine a completely green sky… that was also technically the ground… sort of.

The halfa of the trio frowned as he thought of the best way to describe it. "The sky is… well, it's more like an atmosphere, honestly. If the Earth was broken up into chunks we could stand on, but you can also see below your feet if you looked over the edge of the floating island. And yeah, it's green. And very swirly. But the rest of the Ghost Zone…" He trailed off, remembering how all of the different islands had looked. He'd never seen anything more colorful.

"Can you describe it in one word?" Tucker suggested and Danny grinned.

"Well, that's easy: colorful." He received blank expression in response and sighed before trying to elaborate. "When you first look at it, all you're going to notice is the green 'sky', a bunch of floating doors- mostly purple- and some floating chunks of land- again, purple. But when you look at the plant life and creatures there, it's like staring a rainbow in the face. There's so many colors that you just wouldn't normally see." He paused and shook his head. "No, that's not right. They're just… more there. Everything _glows_. It's not an excessive glow or anything… it's a dull glow. But it's very… vibrant. Rich."

Tucker had his eyes crossed as he tried to imagine that and Sam was tilting her head to the side and tapping her fingers like she was trying to imagine all of her precious plants in stark shadows of blues and reds and oranges.

Danny was busy tearing into his fourth meal from the Nasty Burger, courtesy of Sam's funding and Tucker's trip down to said restaurant. He'd tried to tell them he wasn't hungry, but Sam had seen right through the lie and just told Tucker to get as much food as he could carry. Evidently, the Technogeek had a lot of practice given his own bottomless appetite. Currently, Danny was challenging Tucker's record of the most meals eaten in one sitting.

"Breathe, Danny." Sam instructed with a slight grimace as Danny moved on to his fifth meal. "Is this… also part of the ghost thing?" She asked with a gesture towards the food he was practically inhaling.

Danny paused, swallowed, and shrugged. "Not sure. There's a lot to this that neither Pandora nor I know about. Halfas aren't exactly common." He added as he took another bite.

Sam and Tucker nodded and dropped the conversation with further question. Danny frowned slightly, but covered the expression by eating a fry. His best friends had been avoiding any topics about his new powers as well as they could. Despite their curiosity about the Ghost Zone, it seemed that they weren't quite ready to talk about his leaving for three years. He knew that he should be trying to assuage their concerns, but… he didn't know how. There wasn't much he could say about the situation. It just was.

…And so was the fact that his stomach was still grumbling, despite the now six Nasty Burger meals he had downed. _This is ridiculous._ Danny sighed inwardly as he moved on to his seventh and last available meal. Tucker had taken pity on the obviously starving halfa and gave him two more. Danny had argued- he didn't like feeling like he was stealing his friend's food- up until Tucker pointed out that this was probably the last Nasty Burger Danny would get for a long time, while Tucker would have free access. And then Sam had told him to stop complaining and just eat.

"Full?" Sam asked when he finished. Danny nodded, despite the fact that he knew he wasn't. Pandora would probably be having Humphry make him more food the moment they got back. The poor ghost chef hadn't gotten much of a break, but he also seemed thrilled to cook for someone who could and would eat practically anything he made at the moment. Humphry seemed to take it as a personal challenge to satisfy Danny's hunger.

Danny's gaze slid to the window of Sam's room as his thoughts turned towards Athens. He would probably never admit it, but he was eager to get back to Athens. As much as he loved spending time with his friends and as much as he loathed letting people believe he was dead for three years, he was insatiably curious about this new life he'd literally stumbled into. He sort of felt like a TV show character. A freak accident had given him cool new powers and now he was walking wide-eyed into a new world. He knew that the only reason he wasn't feeling the loss right now was because he was hanging out with Sam and Tucker, but he couldn't help but almost feel impatient. He wanted to get back to Athens and start… well, whatever was next. He wasn't quite sure how it had happened, but somehow, his life was so much more interesting than it had been only a few days ago. It was so odd; going from a normal teenager to whatever he was now.

Danny paused. What was he now? Pandora had offered him the chance to learn about his ghost half, but he hadn't quite chosen to do anything. He was going to learn to control his powers and about the new part of his world, but… what then? Come back home, make up a story, and live a normal life? He found himself frowning at the idea already. The last couple of days in the Ghost Zone had been… amazing. Could he really come back and settle for the same old, same old?

He sighed and shook his head slightly, brushing off his best friend's inquisitive looks. He was thinking too far ahead. He'd only just stumbled into this world. He had three years before he needed to make a decision. He was starting to take after Jazz, worrying about what would happen at the end of… what, his junior year? The halfa titled his head back and crossed his arms thoughtfully, too lost in his musings to notice Tucker and Sam exchange a half-curious, half-amused glance. That's right, it was exactly three years that he was required to stay. Pandora had made it clear that he would be educated while staying with her and she obviously knew about the human world enough to have a grasp on the standard high-school schedule. Why would she purposefully let him go just before his senior year, when it would be most difficult to work his way back into a normal life. He couldn't just skip his last year after being supposedly missing for three years. He'd have to take a placement test, probably, and then make quite a few decisions. But what was she trying to do?

His circular ponderings were giving him nothing but more questions. Danny huffed and tossed his hands up in frustration. "Alright, I give up." He muttered. He'd just have to ask her and hope she gave a straight answer for once.

"I think that shock did something to your head." Tucker teased and Danny jerked sharply, blinking at the dark-skinned teen. The halfa forced himself to return to his surroundings while trying to process Tucker's words. Shock? He blinked. Oh. The portal. Right.

Tucker winced at Danny's reaction, obviously thinking he crossed a line. "Too soon?"

Sam glared at the Technogeek. "Too soon?! Tucker, it happened on _Tuesday_!"

Danny reached out quickly and placed a restraining hand on Sam's shoulder. "Hey, it's alright." He soothed. The Goth eyed him for a moment, evaluating his honesty, before deciding to let him handle it. He looked over at Tucker, careful to keep his restraining grip on Sam 'less she decided to go after him again. "It's fine, Tuck. Honest. I just didn't make the connection for a moment. I don't remember much of what happened." He fell into silence for a moment as a flash of green appeared in front of his mind's eye and a phantom arc of energy raced along his skin. Shaking off the feeling, he added, "I think I remembered more a couple days ago, but not anymore. It's just snatches: green- a lot of it- and a feeling. A tingle that's more like an unwelcome itch."

He left out the part where he felt like hyperventilating every time he tried to remember and how each sensation sent his newly formed core reeling and shook his ghostly instincts violently awake.

Tucker and Sam nodded slowly at his words, but Danny could tell they felt uneasy. "What?" He asked, concerned. Sam simply looked away, a frown marring her expression, but Tucker managed an answer.

"It's just… we remember." Tucker admitted. "I can't imagine what it was like inside of there, but… all I can think about is hearing you screaming."

Danny felt both his core and his heart lurch at the thought and his throat felt dry. He could already hear silent echoes in his ears of those very sounds and the walls of his throat flexed like they were remembering crying out. Danny shivered slightly and wondered briefly if the cold feeling crawling over him was how the dead felt when people walked over their graves. It looked like he had another phantom sensation to remember.

Danny snorted. _Phantom, huh?_

Sam raised a quizzical eyebrow. Danny shrugged in response. "Phantom."

"That's not much clearer." She replied dryly.

Danny thought over the context of his answer and blinked in agreement. "The answer to our problem. If you have to mention me in present tense, call me Phantom." They'd been talking about that on the way back to Sam's house. Since Danny had a phone (and was evidently supposed to find a way to make it work in the Ghost Zone) then Sam and Tucker might occasionally make a reference to something he said. Or maybe he would call them when they weren't exactly in the safety of their room. They needed a way to prevent anyone from realizing that they were talking about Danny, so an alias would help out quite a bit.

Tucker laughed as soon as he made the connection to their earlier conversation. "You do realize that's just another word for 'ghost', right?"

Danny rolled his eyes. "Exactly. Besides, it's an alias. Not Shakespeare's next work."

Sam just stared at them. "You've both lost your minds."

"What makes you say that?" Danny asked innocently.

He only received an exasperated groan in response.

* * *

Tucker closed the door to his bedroom with a soft click and leaned against the white-painted wood. His turquoise eyes stared blankly at the ceiling. Computers whirred softly while their lights blinked slowly, signaling that they'd long since entered sleep mode. It was late, almost ten o'clock, and the three of them had said- _parted ways_ less than half an hour ago.

It had been a surreal experience. None of them had managed to say _"good-bye"_ and the silence that had surrounded them was both tense and peaceful.

" _You going?"_

 _A glance over the shoulder. "Yeah."_

 _Silence._

" _Hey… Tuck…"_

 _A hand help up. A flashed grin. "I know, dude. I will."_

 _An amused smirk. "Don't forget-"_

" _I will."_

 _The smirk faded. A sincere gaze replaced it._

" _I know."_

Meeting Pandora had been… interesting. The royal ghost was both intimidating and kind at the same time. Danny had seemed to be the only member of the trio largely at ease in her presence. Tucker wasn't sure if it was a ghost thing or because he'd spent more time around her than Sam and Tucker had. From his brief glimpses, Tucker had noticed that Pandora acted fairly lenient with Danny, but seemed more on guard around the full humans. He supposed it made sense. Even the little believed snippets of ghostly history had claimed that the relationship between the dead-but-not-departed and the living was strained at best.

Watching Danny climb onto the back of a Pegasus and disappear from his life for who knew how long had left Tucker feeling very… disconnected. It felt like a dream, but a day's worth of memories and a mind placed firmly in logic allowed him the luxury of not doubting the reality of the new situation.

He wasn't oblivious to his new responsibilities either. Danny had told them that he was still alive- that he wasn't coming home- and not his family. From now until the third member of the trio returned, Sam and Tucker were his only links to the living world. Somehow, Tucker knew that that was going to wind up being more difficult than it seemed. Not only that, but they had to keep this from the Fentons.

They had to let a grieving family who trusted and cared for them continue to believe that their youngest son was actually dead.

Tucker sighed and slid down the door to sit on the floor and crossed his arms over his knees. He rested his forehead on his forearms and closed his eyes, feeling his glasses dangle off his nose. He pushed those thoughts away. There was nothing he could do about it. Danny trusted them not to say anything and, unfortunately for the Fentons, he was right. He felt guilty, considering that they'd remembered him and Sam in the midst of their own grief, but he barely knew them through Danny. Any loyalty he felt towards them came through his best friend, not to the family itself. Even ten years later, the other three Fentons were still strangers. Mr. and Mrs. Fenton spent their time down in their lab so much that even Danny had admitted that he saw them more than he saw his parents. Jazz and Danny had basically learned how to run the household. Keeping things cleaned and organized, the fridge stocked, meals cooked… the elder Fentons certainly weren't neglectful, but compared to most parents they weren't very attentive. Still, they didn't know Jazz very well either. Danny and his sister used to be quite close, but the siblings grew apart as they got older and neither Sam nor Tucker really spent much time around the oldest child.

He supposed it didn't matter. In the long run, Danny was alive. He was doing… whatever he was doing for a good reason; Tucker was sure of that. Danny never did anything without a valid reason. He was almost always mindful of his family and friends and was always selfless with his actions towards them.

That's why Tucker was willing to let Danny be selfish for once. He didn't want to let his best friend disappear from his life for three years. They shared practically everything, but Tucker could tell that this- whatever _this_ was- was not something that they could share. This was something for Danny and Danny alone.

If only they knew where he was heading.

A harsh, racking sob that was one-part relief, two-parts loss, and one-part regret tore its way out of his throat. He didn't want to let Danny go again so soon after finding out that he was alive, but he was just so glad that he _was_ alive.

His fingers clenched at the thought and Tucker breathed out as evenly as he could.

Yeah. Danny was alive.

But he was also gone.

* * *

 **Sorry about the delay. I had half of this written and then just sort of ran out of steam. I couldn't really find anything to continue it with until I finally just sat down and started writing. The ending's probably not the best, but I'm tired and just need to get this chapter up.**


	10. Chapter 10

Breath of Life – Chapter 10  
 _It All Comes Apart_

There never had been a more perfect setting for her to study in. The house was quiet, her room was secluded, and she didn't have to worry about disturbances. There were no parents banging around on yet another crazy invention down in the lab, no thunderous voices ranting about ghosts, no ecto-guns discharging while her mother practiced, and no trios of teenagers laughing and playing in the room next door. There would be no door slamming open with an overeager hand as she was dragging downstairs once more, or annoying little brother strolling in to distract her for half an hour under claims that she "studied too much". It was as silent- no, _more_ silent than a library in this normally boisterous house.

She hated it.

She wanted to hear voices grating on her last nerve as they talked endlessly about ghosts. She wanted to go downstairs to a meal that wasn't already made and ecto-samples sitting far too close to the milk for comfort. She wanted to hear three teenage voices laughing and chatting without a care in the world. She wanted to be hit in the head with a model space rocket while stepping out of her room. She wanted her textbook to be ripped out of her grip and shut with a slam and to be teased and dragged out of her room to actually see the sun at some point today.

A sharp _thud_ echoed her thoughts and Jazz looked down to see that she had slammed her textbook shut. Her lips curved up in a sad smile and she felt her eyes begin to water in tears. She closed her fists tightly as she breathed slowly in and out, ignoring the burn in the back of her throat and eyes.

Jazz had come home early on Tuesday after a strangled, sobbing phone call from her mother. She'd gone to the library again in preparation for an English test she was taking on Thursday. Staying in the house would probably have been a bad idea. Her parents hadn't been acting right since the portal failed, but she knew that she wouldn't be much help for a few days. No matter how much she prided herself on psychology, she knew that it was Danny who handled people better than she did. The proof was in how easily he had slipped into the role of coming home and starting up an endless stream of chatter with their parents. He'd actually managed to drag them into full conversations. Jazz didn't begrudge him for it and instead tried to pay attention to what he did rather than following her textbooks word for word. Her little brother had once told her that she was doing much better than she used to. It was almost funny how proud she felt after that.

And then… she'd come home to find out… find out-

Her head dropped into her folded arms as her tears escaped her grip. Her little brother just _couldn't_ be gone. He couldn't be. Not the overly-energetic teen with the A average and hidden talent despite how intelligent he was and the fascination with space. Not the little kid she'd remembered going to the park nearly every day with. Not the little brother who annoyed her endlessly just because he could… just because he cared.

Taking a deep breath, Jazz straightened and rubbed away the lingering dampness. She felt a bit better from her short cry, like the ball of grief in her chest had been eased some. Her fingers lifted to trace the smooth fabric of her headband. It was black today and it had been for the last five days. She wasn't usually one for tradition- honestly, no one in this house was- but it seemed fitting to wear it. She knew that Danny never would have wanted her to wallow in sorrow for days on end, so she'd forced herself to keep moving. The black headband was just her way of physically showing that she missed her baby brother.

 _He was just fourteen._ Jazz thought with a pang of grief. _No family should see the youngest die before them all_.

Her aqua eyes glanced at the clock on her nightstand and the orangette stood with a slight inward sigh. It was nearly seven PM and there were no tempting odors wafting from the staircase. It seemed like her mother had moved past the meal-making portion of her grieving stage. "Well, we still need to eat." Jazz murmured to herself as she shut her door softly and crept quietly down the stairs. She wasn't sure where her parents were, but she didn't want to disturb them. The quiet house seemed to do wonders for them when they were reminiscing about their youngest son. When their surroundings were loud with activity, it was like they tried too hard to focus on the living. Their expressions were fake and forced and their movements were robotic and jerky. At least when they were thinking about Danny, they were allowing themselves to feel.

Luckily, she made it into the kitchen without running into either of her parents and set about searching through the fridge and pantry. _Looks like it's chicken tonight_. Jazz noted dryly. It was the only thing far enough away from the old ecto-samples to be considered safe to eat. A quick search of the pantry rewarded her with canned corn and green beans. The high school student sighed at the cliché. _I_ _ **could**_ _run to the store._ She thought with a glance at the canned food. Neither she nor Danny were picky after years of scrounging up their own meals, but they both considered themselves lucky whenever they found ingredients that weren't canned. That was fairly rare, considering that ectoplasm tended to latch on to anything _not_ in a can if it was in the same room. _Then again,_ Jazz sighed, _cans aren't always safe either._

Deciding to settle for what she'd found, the eldest… and now only… Fenton child set about making dinner. It was a surprisingly difficult endeavor. She kept finding herself turning around or holding her hand out or about to asked Danny to pass this or that. He usually helped her on nights like this and it was odd to be completely alone in the kitchen. She caught a glimpse of her reflection in the glass of the back door window and nearly dropped the spoon she was holding.

She looked pale and shaky, which she quickly put down to the memories flooding her mind. _I must be in partial shock._ Jazz thought as she put her other hand down on the counter to steady herself. Her eyes were slightly red from her cry earlier and the unusual black band stood out in her orange hair. Jazz focused on keeping her breathing even again and slipped into the nearest kitchen chair the moment she could declare dinner "done".

 _I miss him._ Jazz admitted to herself once more. "I miss him." She repeated. "But I can't let that control me."

Feeling better from her vocal admission and the sight of the cooked meal- _see? I can still do things_ \- Jazz leaned out from the kitchen and called, "Mom? Dad?"

Silence was the only answer. Jazz frowned and stepped slowly from the kitchen. Her parents had been prompt in answering her calls lately, as though terrified their other child was going to disappear. The thought brought a pang to her heart and she quickly pushed it away in favor of searching the house. The living room was empty, but there was evidence that her parents had been there earlier. Note pads were tossed onto the coffee table and floor, the pillows were out of place, and their drinks had been left out. It was unusual to see all of this left about, especially considering that her parents had been slow and meticulous in their dazed states, taking care of every menial task at a somber pace.

They weren't upstairs, but Jazz checked their room with a soft knock before pushing open the door, only to find it empty with nothing out of place. The Fenton frowned and crossed her arms as she puzzled over the situation. As far as she knew, her parents had nowhere to be today and they didn't need anything at the house, so either there had been an abrupt change in plans and her parents had rushed out without telling her- which seemed odd considering their recent behavior of being very attentive to her- or they were down in the-

Her breath caught. No. They wouldn't go down into the lab, would they?

Her mind and emotions spinning with the drastic consequences that could have on her parent's fragile state of mind, Jazz practically sprinted down to the basement and burst through the door- which had frighteningly been locked up until now- and straight into a scene which she wished had never happened.

The lab was a wreck, and she didn't mean in a destroyed fashion. Sheets of paper, documents, and charts were scattered everywhere. Samples of green glowing… stuff were sitting on the tables and the computers were whirring as they sifted through data. The portal was swirling in all of its ominous glory and the dozens of cups of coffee and water bottles were all the evidence she needed to know that her parents had been down here very recently. Doing… something. But where on Earth could they have gone?

And more importantly: why had they come down here?

* * *

When Sam Manson and Tucker Foley walked into Casper High the next day, the school did a double take. First of all, Sam actually looked aware of her surroundings. She was still wearing an all-black shirt, but her customary green-lined skirt and dark leggings were back. Second of all, Tucker didn't look like he was trying to pretend nothing had happened. There were shadows under his eyes and his red beret had been swapped for a black one, but it was still a marked improvement.

As though sensing the stares, the two went quietly to their lockers and dropped their heads as their strides turned into the shuffling that everyone had been seeing for the past week. Sam pretended to look through her locker as she muttered to Tucker, "Maybe we're pushing the grieving stages too fast?"

The self-proclaimed techno-geek shook his head slightly. "They don't hang around us all the time- we're going to abruptly look different. A change of clothes does tend to represent a change of mindset. They're just surprised because we went from-" he broke off, but the message was clear: _"looking like death"_ \- "to being a little more alive."

"Right." Sam sighed. "Well, they'll just have to get used to it. I was starting to get a crick in my neck with all that staring at the ground." She drummed her fingers on the edge of her locker and added a little guiltily, "The only person I'm worried about is Jazz. She took Danny's 'death' really hard, but she always tries to be this responsible adult. If she sees us getting better and she doesn't feel like she is, she might try and push herself too fast."

Tucker agreed with a concerned frown. "Or she might try to analyze us."

Sam paled a bit at the thought. She was already fighting off the guilt gnawing at her for keeping such a big secret. She wasn't sure if she could keep it from Danny's sister for long. Not if Jazz took to watching them. They barely had any contact with the orangette before and Sam would much like to keep it that way, if only for selfish reasons.

 _For Danny._ She reminded herself, pushing away the voice in her head that snipped that maybe the other teen shouldn't have been so eager to leave for three years. _That's just him and you know it. He'll do everything he can to see us earlier than that._

Still, he hand drifted to the smallest pocket in her bag uncertainly. The phone she'd given Danny had only two numbers: her own and Tucker's. Neither of them had received a call and, while worried at first, Tucker had tried to ease their worries by stating that before he could call either of them, Danny needed to figure out how to make the phone work in the Ghost Zone. It had already been a week and a half since they'd said good-bye. It seemed silly to be so worried since that was such a short amount of time, but the trio had never really been apart that long before. Ever. In fact, the longest they'd ever been apart was a five-day trip Sam had once been forced to go on with her parents. Even Danny had returned from the dead in three.

With a groan, Sam thudded her head against her locker. Oh, no. Now she was starting to crack Tucker jokes. 'Returned from the dead'… Danny was half-ghost… nice one Sam. Nice one.

"As much as I'd like to know what made you break character like that," Tucker interrupted her pity dryly, "you're starting to draw stares."

Freezing in place, Sam scowled and muttered, "Let's just get to class."

Nodding, Tucker reminded her, "Don't forget to walk into the wrong classroom."

The Goth rolled her eyes and turned on her heel to walk into her second period class- which was actually pretty close to her locker- and patiently waited for the teacher to remind her that it was first period before apologizing in as distracted and mournful a voice she could manage and then walking out of the classroom. Grimacing, Sam walked back to Tucker and allowed her best friend to pretend to lead her to the right room. "Did I really do this every day?" She whispered, fighting off the red valiantly trying to color her cheeks. She supposed she could understand it since she'd been really out of it, but now it was just embarrassing.

 _It's amazing the kind of difference grief makes on your life._ Sam recognized somewhere in the back of her mind. It was sort of strange how murky the last few days seemed in her memories. Just endless days that blurred past without much recognition of anything, and then a blaze of emotion and clarity when Danny had tumbled through her window like he'd never left in the first place.

"Yes." Tucker replied with a grin that let her know he was enjoying this far too much. "And according to my schedule, you have to do this at least three more times for the act to be believable."

He was rewarded with a steel-toed boot slamming into his shin. Tucker yelped and immediately quieted the sound, since they were still pretending to be quiet and subdued. He sent a watery-eyed glare in her direction. "C'mon, I was only joking." He immediately back-tracked when Sam raised her foot threateningly.

Raising a judging eyebrow, Sam finally nodded and continued as though nothing had happened. "C'mon. We're going to be late."

Far more gingerly, Tucker continued to lead her in the right direction as the duo avoided the stares from the other students around the school. The rest of the day passed in similar fashion: walk into the wrong classrooms, walk through the halls with their heads down, look distracted and subdued in class, and only eat a few parts of their lunch when anyone was watching. By the time their last period- history- rolled around, Sam was thoroughly tired of the charade.

"We can just head straight to class." Tucker informed her with a glance at his PDA. "Just remember to look tired and probably put your head down on your desk once or twice. Oh, and, only do half of your homework and finish the rest during lunch tomorrow." He tacked on, typing something on the small screen.

"Right." Sam acknowledged dryly. That was going to be a pain. Maybe she'd just finish it all at home and pretend to work on it at lunch.

As it turned out, they were never going to make it to history. One moment they were standing quietly in the corner, the next Sam was blinked open her eyes. Her head ached and every limb felt heavy and unresponsive. She shook her head, disoriented, as she tried to push herself into a sitting position.

"Don't strain yourself." A kind voice told her and suddenly there were warm hands helping her sit up with a pillow behind her back. "How are you feeling? You two scared quite a few people."

Her vision cleared and the Goth found herself looked at the school nurse, a kind woman with curly black hair and hazel eyes. "Two?" Sam replied dazedly while her mind worked to turn itself back on and start processing things again. Her gaze drifted to the bed next to her. A nurse's aide was standing there, helping a confused Tucker sit up. Sam groaned. "Oh, please put him back to sleep."

The nurse stared at her, lost, but Tucker answered the silent query simply by figuring out where he was. "Oh, no." Tucker breathed. "No, no, no, no, no, no! Sam, tell me I'm not at the n-n-n-nu-nur-n-n-"

"This is all a dream, Tucker." Sam answered, dropping her head back in defeat. "Go back to sleep."

The techno-geek shrank back against the covers of his bed. "Right, right. A dream, well- a nightmare, but yes, I'm just asleep. I'm not in the nurse's office. I'm in Jamaica with a bunch of supermodels." He screwed his eyes shut and kept chanting that under his breath, as though it could become true.

With Tucker temporarily taken care of, Sam looked back at the nurse, who seemed completely bewildered. "What happened? That last thing I remember is standing in the hall…"

She trailed off as a brief image, blurred beyond recognition, flashed across her mind's eye. The nurse's expression turned reassuring and she answered gently. "Both of you passed out in the hall. Some students informed the teachers and they brought you here. Do you have any idea why this happened?"

Frowning, Sam shook her head and reminded herself at the last moment to look meek and subdued. She should still be lost in the grief of her best friend's death, no concerned over her health.

Sighing, the nurse straightened. "Well, the both of you are thin and the shadows under your eyes indicate exhaustion." Her tone was still soft. "I'm very sorry about your friend, but you must remember to take of yourselves. I'm having the both of you excused from school for the rest of the week. Take some time for yourselves; to rest and relax. I'll have someone drop any work you might have missed off at your houses each day, but only do what you feel like you can."

Sam wasn't paying any attention to the nurse because her attention suddenly found itself fixed on the cool sensation humming to life in a concentrated area on her wrist. The Goth's breath caught when a glowing green mark slowly appeared on her skin and she leapt off the bed to grab Tucker and force him to his feet. The techno-geek yelped, but one serious warning glance kept him quiet.

"Right. Will do! In fact, we'll get right on that!" Sam exclaimed far too cheerfully as she backed out of the room and took off down the hall, completely ignoring the startled stares of the nurses. The halls were thankfully empty and Sam paused only long enough to grab their things.

Tucker dragged them to a halt as soon as they left the school grounds. "Sam, what's wrong?" He panted. Sam answered by wrestling his long sleeve up his arm. Tucker stared at the glowing mark on his elbow.

"Wha-?"

"Danny's in trouble." Sam interrupted. Her very blood felt like it was on fire. She _ached_ with the urge to do something- anything! Her best friend was in trouble, but what was she going to do? She didn't know what was wrong, or where he was- specifically, at least- and she didn't have a clue about how she was supposed to get to him, or how she was supposed to help if and when she got there.

Tucker stared. "How do you know that?"

"I just… do." Sam answered with an echo of certainty. She gestured to the mark on her wrist. "Besides, these things are connected to Danny. Why else would they light up like this?"

"Maybe he's really happy?" Tucker offered weakly. But even he knew that wasn't true. Sam had always had some supernatural sense for detecting Danny's mood. She had nothing on Danny's ability to read her, but Tucker had no doubt that Sam was right in this case.

The Goth was pacing. "Alright… so… we need to help him."

"Wait, what?" Tucker started. "Sam, whoa. Hang on. What are you talking about?"

"Danny!" The Goth exclaimed impatiently, whipping around. "We have to help him!"

She looked ready to run off, so Tucker reached out to grab her arm. "Sam!" He barked, successfully grabbing the Goth's attention. "We can't- no, _listen_. Please."

She glared at him for a moment, before nodding tersely. "Fine." She muttered, snatching her arm out of his grip.

"Thank you." Tucker said quietly, pausing for a moment. "Sam, we can't go running off to help Danny. We don't know where he is or what's wrong with him." She looked ready to argue, so he pressed on. "We don't know how this thing works! It could go off if he so much as trips, or maybe every time he goes ghost." He faltered at those words, frowning a bit at the oddness of the statement. "I know you think he's in trouble, but he's also not alone. He's got Pandora there to help him and I didn't meet her for very long, but I trust her to keep him safe. Even Danny admitted he's been having problems controlling his powers. We _don't know_ what's going on her and running off isn't the answer."

Sam scowled at him, but she had to admit that Tucker was making sense. They didn't know anything about this new element in Danny's life and- stuck here- they weren't going to be learning about it any time soon. But she could _feel_ that Danny wasn't all right. She just _knew_.

Tucker held up a finger. "One month. If these things don't fade in one month, we'll do… something."

Sam gaped. "A month?!" She demanded. "You want us to wait a whole month?! He could die by then!"

"Sam, we _passed out_ from these things just reacting to Danny and he isn't even here!" The techno-geek snapped back. Sam reeled back, surprised by Tucker's harsh tone. "What if he was here? What if these things are distance related? Going to him now might just do something to us that would make us useless! What if we fell into a coma? Or become so weak we can't move? What if we _die_?" He stared at her, demanding an answer, but she had none to give. His tone softened and he looked at her regretfully, like he wished he hadn't needed to argue. "I said a month because it makes sense. We don't know how long these things take to deal with. If he is injured, it's not like he's going to heal up in a week. And why do you think Pandora wanted him to stay for three years? Obviously, theses ghost… things take time. If it gets worse, we can go before the month is up, but if nothing else happens, it's safest for everyone to just _do nothing_."

Sam sighed. "I hate it when you make sense."

Tucker offered her a subdued grin. "Hey, one of us has to."

Her gaze dropped to the glowing mark on her wrist. A few minutes of silence passed before she finally let out a frustrated huff. "Fine. One month." She agreed. "But if anything else happens-" She added warningly.

"We'll go." Tucker promised, relieved. She still looked unhappy about the arrangement, so Tucker added, "Look, I hate feeling useless too. Danny's practically my brother. Of course I want to go running off to help him, but we can't lose our heads over every little thing. Especially when it's something we don't know much about."

Sam sighed as they turned and continued walking at a far slower pace. "I know." She retorted quietly. "But that doesn't mean I have to like it."

After all, it had always been the three of them watching each other's backs. What were they going to do with the trio split up?

Tucker sighed and pulled his sleeve back down his arm. "I'm starting to wish that we'd remembered to mention these to Pandora."

Sam could only nod.

* * *

The kingdom of Athens was normally a happy place. Voices could be heard ringing through the streets, children seen playing, and people simply moving through their daily tasks with a smile. It was a safe place to live, where crime was low and the people were protected by the _Evzoni_.

But for the first time in a few hundred years, the kingdom was subdued. The children were quiet, the soldiers were anxious, and the people were puzzled and concerned. All of this was because the Queen's Palace, which stood at the highest point in the city, was quiet and closed. There was no happiness and reassurance radiating from the palace today, just like it had been for the past two days.

In one of the many halls, the staff was gathered with their Queen, watching her with worried eyes. Pandora smiled at them reassuringly, but she knew there was little she could do to soothe them. Danny had grown on all of them in the short week he was here. The teen was bright and eager and friendly and took the time to get to know everyone here. His illness had worried everyone here, but he had remained positive despite the fever and bouts of dizziness and weakness.

But for the last two days, her ward had been doing nothing but thrashing about in his sleep. Airmed had to keep giving the young teen sedatives, because if she didn't his blood-curdling screams would echo around the entire palace. Danny was in so much pain and not one person had any idea of what they could do about it. Airmed had worked tirelessly since Danny's collapse to try and help the teen. Pandora had not seen her for two days and now they were waiting outside her office. Pandora knew that she should be attempting to soothe her citizens and staff, but she also knew that it would be a pointless task. The inhabitants of Athens were too sensitive to one another to not be concerned and happy as one whole group. It made her kingdom the most peaceful and collected in all of the Infinite Realms, but also the hardest in which to keep a secret.

The sound of a door swinging open on its hinges snapped Pandora out of her reflections. Airmed stepped out of the office, her eyes tired and her shoulders drooping. She rubbed at her face for a moment and didn't even seem to have the energy to be surprise when she finally noticed everyone gathered outside her door.

"Your Majesty, would you come in, please?" The red-eyed nurse asked quietly, stepping back to hold the door open. Pandora felt her heart drop at those words. Airmed was exhausted and subdued. Whatever she had found, it wasn't good.

"Of course. Thank you, Airmed." She murmured softly as she entered the office. The sight snatched her breath away. Danny lay on the bed in the corner, twitching restlessly. He was caught somewhere between his transformations. Half of his hair was white and his eyes- which she could see when they occasionally snapped open only to drift shut once more- were flickering between neon green and baby blue. Every minute or so, he would jerk and roll violently; limbs tossed about in unnatural spasms. His breathing was harsh and ragged and the air temperature in the room had dropped drastically.

Airmed shut the door behind her and moved to join Pandora, standing at the bed. "He's been like that for a few hours." She informed the Queen quietly. "It's the quietest I've seen him." She sighed and gripped the freezing railing on the bed. "I've had to stop giving him sedatives and painkillers for the sake of his system. I don't even know if they did hurt him anyway. They're meant for ghosts, but he's only half one. We've been lucky that he hasn't had any more episodes like the first day."

"Is there anything I can do?" Pandora found herself asking, despite the fact that she already knew she couldn't help her ward here.

"Just keep him in your thoughts." The winged nurse answered somberly.

A brief moment of silence fell between them before Pandora finally asked the dreaded question. "Did you… find out what was wrong?"

Airmed sighed and smiled bitterly. "Yes. Danny's idea to compare the results his ghost half and human half provided worked quite well." She sank into the chair, her professional air utterly abandoning her. Pandora sat opposite her, waiting for Airmed to speak patiently, despite her own anxiety.

Danny groaned and their gazes swapped to the suffering teen as he arched off the bed. The same ring of white light they'd seen only two days ago appeared once more around his waist. Airmed shot to her feet, eyes wide with panic, but it was too late. The ring glowed brightly and then sparked as it split, only to abruptly fade away as Danny loosed a scream of pain. His eyes snapped open and he jerked into a sitting position. He looked around wildly, but the teen didn't seem to actually be seeing anything.

" _Umbris! Inclinentur umbrae venit!"_ He howled, clawing at the wall and somehow staggering to a standing position.

"Danny!" Pandora shouted when the teen immediately collapsed. Both ghosts reached down, panicked, only for the teen to whip to his feet and latch on to their outstretched wrists with a vice-like grip. Pandora and Airmed froze, fearful of hurting the halfa, but Danny only stared at them without recognition. His piercing blue and green gaze, suddenly clear, seemed to be looking right though them. _"Rubrum oculos in tenebris. Veniunt. Veniunt."_

And with those words, the teen's eyes rolled back in his head and he collapsed onto the bed. Airmed immediately reached for her tools and a few minutes later she was rattling off her findings. "His average heart-rate should be from one-oh-three to one-forty-four and it's at eighty-three. His breathing rate should be between twelve and sixteen, it's at ten. His temperature should be at ninety-eight-point-six Fahrenheit and it's at sixty-seven-point-two. His reflexes are sporadic at best and so is his response to stimuli."

The nurse seemed at the edge of hopelessness. "I don't know what to treat him with or what his bpm, respiratory rate, and temperature should even naturally be at in the first place." With a cry, Airmed dropped to the floor, face buried in her hands. "Anything I do to help could kill him!"

Shakily, Pandora knelt next to the nurse and placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder, but for once she didn't know what to say. Airmed had always been cool, calm, and collected. She was a nigh infallible nurse, but one who was realistic and prepared. Seeing the winged ghost so shaken up was unsettling. It made Pandora truly realize just how desperate this situation had become.

Pandora found her gaze drifting towards the unconscious teen on the bed, her mind replaying the Latin words the teen had just spoken. _Is it a delusion from his fever?_ She wondered, but she could feel ice climbing along her spine. No, there was more to both those words and the black-haired teen than met the eye. The problem was, she need to know what was going on to figure anything out.

"Airmed," she said gently to draw the nurse's attention, "you know I hate to upset you, but I need you to tell me what you found. It's the only way to help him."

The nurse shook her head. "I'm not sure anyone can help him, ma'am." She whispered. "There's only one thing I could draw from any of this and it doesn't offer much hope."

"I still need to know." Pandora encouraged gently.

Drawing in a deep breath, Airmed told her.

* * *

 **Hey guys! Sorry it's been awhile. Writer's block and all that jazz.**

 **So, I feel as though I need to point something out. A few chapters ago, I labeled both Danny and Sam as agnostic. Later, Sam changed to have the same religion as the rest of her family, but Danny is still agnostic. I also said that this point of view came from his parents being scientists, and I'm concerned that I might have misled some people. By that, I mean that I've met a lot of people who don't know the difference between atheist and agnostic.**

 **An atheist is someone who does not believe in a God or religion. They believe that the only life we have is this one on Earth and that there is no afterlife. As such, they believe in science for the explanation of how everything came to be.**

 **Someone who is agnostic does not have a religion or believe in the concept of God as defined by any religion, but does believe in a Higher Power. What they believe as far as the origins of the Earth, universe, living creatures, and just about everything else can vary as the days do.**

 **The reason I labeled Sam as agnostic is because even though she didn't share her family's religion for a while, she still lived in a spiritual household. Danny is labeled as agnostic because, while his parents are scientists and it is unknown what they believe, he does live in a house where a large focus is placed on ghosts. That topic begins to cross over into the realm of spiritual things and, since I've made Danny show at least an interest in ghosts, I feel like he would have stumbled across similar themes that swayed him to at least believe in a Higher Power.**

 **Now, before you freak out, I'm probably never going to mention this again. I hate bringing up religion because I feel like it always winds up with people arguing. I simply put this here to clarify those chapters and my reasoning so no one who doesn't know the difference is confused. If that's you, don't feel bad. I didn't know the difference for about fourteen years. The only reason I even labeled Sam and Danny and had beliefs come up was to drive a scene in the story and show a bit of character-and-relationship development. If it ever does come up again, it'll be an offhand comment at the most.**

 **And look, you finally get translations for reasons that will be explained later!**

Translations:

 _Umbris! Inclinentur umbrae venit!_ – Shadows! The shadows come!

 _Rubrum oculos in tenebris. Veniunt. Veniunt._ – Red eyes in the dark. They come. They come.

 _Evzoni_ \- The Evzones, or Evzoni, is the name of several historical elite light infantry and mountain units of the Greek Army.

 **Review Responses:**

 **Starfang's Secrets** _and_ **KuriMaster13** – Thanks for your reviews! Glad you like the story.

 **DB-KT** – I'm glad you liked the chapter, but no I don't have chapters 8 and 9 mixed up. I wanted to write things in this order. Mostly just because I want to give the feeling that Danny is stuck in whatever condition he is in for longer than how it would feel between chapters for whoever is reading this when the story is complete. Thanks for pointing that out, though. I appreciate that you're trying to help keep my story on track.

 **ZeroExia** – Yes, but it's going to be a few chapters down the line. I have a lot of things to build up through and I'm trying to be careful not to reveal how long the time skip will be. Sam and Tucker could see Danny sooner than planned, or much, much later. If you're looking for an exact chapter, I would take a stab at around 15-25, probably 20-25. That is, however, me assuming that I won't find smaller things to cover to add more detail. Some of these chapters are longer than others because I found a few things that were interesting to linger on.

 **IceTaloned Frayfu** – Yes, they did forget to mention the portal marks. I wanted to use them to really mark the drastic lack of knowledge the trio have about how ghosts work, as evidenced in this chapter. However, they play a far more important role than you think. I'm glad you approve of how I got Danny to use 'Phantom'. I'd been chewing over that issue for a while, considering that his dual-naming is so critical to the show in general.


	11. Chapter 11

**IMPORTANT! PLEASE READ: I have gotten a couple of questions asking if chapters 8 and 9 are mixed up. No, this is not the case. I posted those chapters in that order of events** _ **specifically**_ **because I wanted to make it seem like Danny was stuck in this state a bit longer. As you will read in this chapter, there is a small time skip over a week in length and- to someone who is reading this story after its completion- the chapters will make this time feel much shorter. In order to make the timespan seem a bit longer, I swapped the occurrence of scenes a bit to hold suspense. Thank everyone for addressing this issue and trying to keep my story on track. I truly do appreciate the feedback.**

Breath of Life – Chapter 11  
 _A Trip to the Mind_

Wherever he was, it was dark. He could feel something swirling around him like a swift breeze and there was distant murmuring echoing in his ears. It wasn't cold, but neither was it warm and whenever he opened his eyes- if he ever opened them- the darkness was no different. Every once in a while, he could feel something pressing upon him and his head would ache and the hair on the back of his neck would stand up and he would shiver and flinch back with a wash of uncertainty. At other times, he would sense something very, very far away circling him. This presence made him quiver in terror. He could not tell what this thing was or what it wanted or what it was thinking, but it was certainly interested in _him_ for whatever reason.

And then he saw. He opened his eyes and looked down to see his hands and feet and the _chiton_ he'd been wearing earlier. When he looked around, everything seemed as inky and endlessly black as before, but it wasn't. The presences had faded and he suddenly knew without doubt that he was alone here. Still, his movements were cautious. He felt both completely safe here and utterly disturbed. Something was wrong, but he didn't know what.

"Where am I?" Danny voiced aloud as soon as he could. As though he'd said the magic words, a soft wave of light spread from below him. It went endlessly on in every direction and seemed to be made of glass. It reflected everything and nothing and shone with its own light. The space around him was still as dark as before, but it seemed to have a beginning and an end, and yet went on forever. It felt dome-like and utterly massive. It was so completely familiar, and yet he knew nothing of this place.

" _Ah, but you do."_

Danny started when a voice echoed through the space around him. "Who's there? Where are you?" He asked, whirling on the spot, but only seeing more darkness. The voice practically begged him to trust it; as warm and old and wise as it was.

" _A friend. As for where I am… I am far from where you are."_

The blue-eyed teen blinked. What? That didn't make any sense. Danny found himself suddenly moving; walking as he searched for the source of the voice. The glass beneath his feet lit up brightly wherever he made contact as he moved and Danny found himself caught between observing the strange space and trying to figure out where he was.

"That doesn't make any sense." Danny informed the voice, feeling strangely calm. Something was reassuring him that absolutely nothing could hurt him here. Just this once, he was utterly in control of the world around him. "If you're far from me, how can I hear you?"

" _Perhaps the same way you can hear another."_ The voice replied and Danny froze. He'd never told anyone about that. Not even Tucker!

"How do you know about that?!" Danny demanded, spinning in place. The glass beneath his feet lit up brightly with his rising temper, but everything remained as dark as before.

" _I know many things."_ The voice replied calmly and then added on with a hint of humor, _"It's part of my job description."_

"Jo- what? What are you talking about?" Danny spluttered, bewildered. "If you're my subconscious, then I seriously need to get my head checked."

The voice sounded pleased. _"Not quite, but you're getting warmer about where you are."_

Danny's jaw snapped shut before he could even form a reply. Was this voice implying that he was in his _head_? That's what this empty space was? Danny glanced towards the glass below him, which was changing shades and colors with every thought of his. _I suppose that would make sense._ He mused. Or, wait. Could you think a thought in your own mind?

"My mind. I'm in my own mind." Danny answered.

" _Correct."_ The voice rewarded. _"I'm impressed you figured that out on you own. Most people need more time than that."_

The teen shook his head, baffled. "O~kay. Ignoring the fact that you are apparently in many people's heads, how did I even get here? I thought stuff like this only happened in movies."

" _You've heard of an 'out of body' experience?"_ The voice queried and, at Danny's nod, continued, _"Then the best way to put it is that you're having an 'in of body' experience."_

"That… weirdly makes sense." Danny admitted. "Alright, so I'm in my own head. That's definitely not the strangest thing that's happened to me this month. So, since you're trying to avoid telling me who you are, can you tell me why you're here?"

" _And now we're getting somewhere."_ The voice praised. _"That is exactly the question that needs to be asked. I am here because you need me to be here."_

There was no more forthcoming and Danny frowned at the riddle of an answer. "I 'need you to be here'? What for?" He asked, only to realize he'd probably only get another vague sentence in response. "Wait. Don't answer that." He hurried, holding up his hand. He chewed over the riddle for a moment and ran a hand through his hair, a tick he'd picked up when he was concentrating. "Well… most people 'need' others when they need help, so you're saying I need help? What for? What's going on?"

" _And there lies the problem."_ The voice confirmed, sounding suddenly grave. _"Tell me, Daniel-"_

Said teen started. "How do you know my name?!" He demanded, but the voice only pressed on.

" _What is the last thing you remember? Sitting at home with your two best friends? Meeting Pandora in the Infinite Realms? Or, perhaps, attempting to activate you ghostly core?"_

Danny was frozen in place, his sense of security suddenly ripped away. "How do you know all of that?" He whispered. "Who _are_ you?"

" _I know many things."_ The voice answered vaguely. _"But, as I said before, I am a friend."_

"Alright. Then prove it." Danny snapped, feeling a flash of anger. Who did this… voice think he- it? She? It sounded male- was?! If it was watching him, then it was watching the people around him too. _I won't let them be hurt._ Danny growled inwardly, pausing for only a moment as he wondered where the intensity of that thought had come from. He'd always been protective of the people he cared about, but right now it seemed like only that was important. _And why shouldn't it be?_ His mind replied. _They mustn't be in danger._ Danny allowed the thoughts to slip away without complaint. "Why are you here?"

" _We've answered that question, Daniel: to help you. The better question would be: why do you need help?"_ The voice reprimanded gently and the teen suddenly found himself feeling like a scolded kid. His flash of temper suddenly seemed so childish.

Danny scowled at the feeling, and the strange protectiveness simply rose up and swept it away. "Fine." Danny conceded. "Why do I need help?" He felt a bit silly glaring at nothingness, but it was the best he could do.

" _And now we're at the heart of the problem."_ The voice admitted heavily. _"There is no easy way to say this, Daniel. You're dying."_

The teen went still and his lips parted as though to speak, but no sound came out. What? He was dying? Or was the voice referring to his ghost half? Was that killing him? But he didn't feel like he was dying. Okay, the fever and dizziness and weakness had been irritating and debilitating, but he usually felt fine after the bouts passed. He wasn't really _dying_ , was he? There was another halfa out there and no one seemed to be worrying over _Plasmius_ slowly dying! Granted, Pandora had made it sound like no one liked him much, but still!

His voice forced itself to work. "Dying?" He repeated in disbelief. "I'm _dying_? You can't be serious."

" _I'm afraid so, Daniel."_

This was officially the worst day of his life. His apparently very short life.

"Why the heck do you sound so calm about this? What are you? Death? How can you help me if I'm _dying_?!" Danny demanded wildly as he steps turned to frantic pacing. The glass lit up and dulled erratically and colors flicked and slid across and under its clear surface in a dizzying fashion, physically representing Danny's rapid thoughts.

The voice chuckled sadly. _"Perhaps 'Death' is the most fitting thing someone has called me in a very long time, but no. I am not death itself."_

Danny gaped. "What is it with you and _riddles_?!" He shouted in frustration. "If you're here to help, then tell me what to do! Why am I dying?! What is it I need to do?!"

" _And that, Daniel, is the question that shall give you answers. I suppose the best place to start would be, in fact, the start. When you stepped into that portal and inadvertently turned yourself half-ghost, you did so without understand the nature of either of your halves."_

The teen groaned. "But I thought they _weren't_ halves. I was thinking of it like that, which is why I couldn't control my transformations." He argued, confused.

" _And that is the case. However, for the sake of simplicity, we're going to refer to it as a human half and a ghost half."_

"Fine."

" _Good. Now what you don't understand is the nature of the relationship between humans and ghosts. Ghosts are humans, but they are the opposite of the living. You might call them the 'dead', but this isn't true. A ghost is an anti-life. A soul or conscious that has passed on from life, but not truly died. As the name implies, the anti-life is something that cannot co-exist with life. You, Daniel, are a living exception to that. You currently are both life and anti-life."_

Danny's head was spinning faster and faster with every word the voice said. "So, basically… I shouldn't exist?"

" _Exactly!"_ The voice practically beamed.

 _This guy needs to get his head checked._ Danny deadpanned. _You shouldn't be pleased to tell someone that they shouldn't exist._

" _And yet, you do exist. You are illogical, but here you are."_ The voice continued, oblivious to Danny's thoughts. _"The issue is in the nature of your two halves. Both of them are 'dominant' in nature. Much like a recessive a single gene will lose to two dominant genes every time, there is a balance in the way things work. When a person is 'alive', their 'life' gene is dominant. When they die, but do not pass on, their 'anti-life' gene is dominant. You have both genes active at the same time."_

Danny frowned. "So I'm both alive and not at the same time?" He chose to ignore how disturbing that statement sounded aloud.

" _Yes, but that's the problem. Since both halves are dominant, they're fighting for control. That fight is destroying your mind and soul and affecting your physical self as well."_

"You're saying my enemy is myself?"

" _Very good deduction. That's correct. This 'fight' probably wouldn't be affecting you this much if it hadn't already been unbalanced. You see, you are already predominantly your human half. Even if you think of yourself as 'halfa', your body recognizes that it has spent the majority of its time as 'alive' and is thinking of that as its default. However, you are currently in the Infinite Realms. Your ghost half is stronger here and your physical self is responding to the 'anti-life' around you. The problem is that willingly submitting yourself to the anti-life is impossible without balance. Your physical form will recognize becoming predominantly anti-life as a form of death, and what is the goal of every living thing?"_

"To survive." Danny answered quietly, with an ever-increasing sense of dawning horror. "So, I have to find a balance while letting my human half remain the default?"

" _No, you must find balance by letting both halves become default."_

"But you just said that was impossible!" Danny argued incredulously.

" _And yet you know the name of living proof that it is not."_ The voice countered calmly.

Danny's eyes widened a fraction. "Plasmius." He breathed.

" _To an extent."_ The voice confirmed.

"Wh- 'to an extent'? What's that supposed to mean?" Danny retorted, caught off guard.

" _The two of you are the same, yet different. In this situation, however, the point is moot."_

"You're not going to answer me, are you?" Danny said dryly.

" _No."_

"Alright, so what am I doing?"

" _You're in your mind, Daniel. And now that I am here, I can do this."_

The halfa flinched and yelped when the floor lit up with a blinding flash and he quickly covered his eyes. When he finally managed to blinked them open again, the sight that greeted him took his breath away. The glass floor was still there, but everything else had changed. Hills of grass and forests grew around him, seemingly apart of the floor and the distance while also being solidly _there._ There was also a city that looked startlingly like Amity Park, but _changed_. Here and there sat the occasional object or design or texture or building that reminded him of Athens. In fact, Pandora's palace was beginning to take shape in the slightly more distant mountains. A startlingly clear waterfall roared over a cliff and poured into the glass below, and Danny realized with a start that it was the same one he'd seen oh-so-many years ago on a camping trip with his parents and sister. In fact, _everything_ here was familiar.

But most breath-taking of all was what the darkness above his head had turned into. Entire galaxies swirled in the inky blackness of space, and while he could see them and their many stars, his little glass world was also amidst another massive galaxy, with stardust swirling around everything her. The occasional door or plane or rocky surface or glowing plant floated around and the green atmosphere of the Infinite Realms seemed to be overlaid behind the black surface of space, just faintly visible as though seen through a thin sheet.

" _Welcome to your mind, Daniel."_

The sound of the voice speaking once more knocked Danny out of his awe-induced state and he jerked, startled. He could practically _feel_ the amusement radiating from wherever the voice was and he cleared his throat, embarrassed. "Uh," he coughed, "sorry."

" _It's fine. Few people ever see what the physical representation of their mind looks like. But of those who have, they have all reacted exactly as you just did."_

"That's… reassuring, I guess?" Danny asked more than said. A brief moment of silence hung over them. "So, what _am_ I doing, anyway? You said I had to find 'balance', but how am I supposed to do that?"

Never mind how weird this whole thing was. At this point, he was just forced to accept that his life was never going to be normal. _Ever_.

" _Find the chaos."_ The voice answered. _"And when you do, help it find balance."_ There was a moment of silence and Danny felt distinctly _off_. When the voice spoke again, it wasn't welcome news. _"I cannot maintain this connection much longer."_ Danny could practically hear the voice frown. _"It took too long for me to get here."_ The voice sighed.

"Too long?" Danny echoed. "What; to get into my head?"

The voice chuckled. _"Minds don't like to be invaded. Mental shields are naturally quite strong. Yours in particular are some of the strongest in existence."_

"Wait- what are you talking about?" Danny called, but- with the odd certainty that only comes when one is inside their own head- he knew that the voice was gone. He was on his own. _Alright, work the problem._ The halfa reminded himself firmly. The voice had trusted that he could find a way to make it through this. _It's either do something or die._

Knowing that he wasn't going to find any answers here, Danny turned around and took a step in a random direction. Somehow, he knew that doing so wouldn't bring about quite the same results as it would in the real world. True to form, his mind knew itself best. His surroundings instantly went from real in appearance to looking like they'd been coated in the same glass the 'ground' was made of. Colors rippled through the semi-clear floor and, as Danny continued walking, his immediate surroundings seemed to shrink as though he was moving away from them at a much faster pace than a simple walk. Distant structures and shapes blurred past him, but each sight awed him even more. Literally everything in his mind had something to do with his memories and decisions. The forests and mountains had come from the frequent camping trips his family had taken when he was younger. The cities all resembled either places he'd been or Amity Park. Even the occasional creature he'd spotted had been something that had left an impression on his life. The insides of the buildings he saw were homey and quaint, but technologically advanced much like FentonWorks. Others resembled the neat order of Tucker's house with wires tangled about, and some were more lavish like Sam's mansion. A few of the buildings- dotted here and there- had already begun to change to look more like the Queen's Palace in Athens. It was sort of astonishing to realize how quickly Athens was becoming his new home.

 _But it makes sense._ Danny mused as he continued walking. Everything looked peaceful so far, nothing like the "chaos" the voice had told him to find. _The ghosts there behave like one big family. It's… nice._ He admitted to himself. _Feeling so welcomed by people other than my family and friends, and being worried over without overly-energetic parents and psychoanalyzing sisters is… different. But a good different._

A golden-white blur in the distance caught his eye and Danny turned to face it curiously. It was too far to make out clearly from here, but it looked as though someone had taken a sharp edge of some kind- like a knife- and cut straight down through the air. The golden-white light was spilling out from there, bright and eye-catching. Danny hesitated, knowing that the more pressing issue was his impending doom, but _something_ was pulling him in that direction and he was curious to know what it was.

Just a few simple steps brought him close enough that he was standing right in front of it. It did, in fact, look like a knife cut. The glass below his feet looked like it curved up to where the break was, and it was fractured around that point like it had cracked. The colors blurred with blinding intensity in the glass, which was what had produced the golden-white glow. Suddenly, Danny realized why he had felt like he was in a massive dome before. He _was_.

"Mental shields." He breathed. This was what the voice had meant. The 'glass' that seemed to make up and support everything here was really his mind. It simply formed and adapted to his expectations and memories in order to represent who his was and his experiences. At the same time, it was also his mind's shield. It surrounded him, protecting him from any attackers so his mind remained intact and safe. _But, if this is a 'hole' in it, then this must represent-_

A simple brush of his fingers against the 'edge' of the cut confirmed it. An image flashed in front of him; sitting at her desk at home, tapping her pen as she chewed over something. Behind the golden-white glow, barely visible through the cut, was a faint glow of the colors he most associated with her: lavender and black.

"This is my link with Sam." Danny confirmed aloud, eyes wide with disbelief. It was one thing to know it existed, but to see actual, physical proof in his own mind… it only left him filled with awe and yet more questions.

He could probably have stayed there for hours, simply trying to make sense of this impossible connection, but his attention was ripped away by the sudden sensation of claws of ice climbing up his spine. His surroundings abruptly turned dark and the glass went dull. A creaking, groaning sound echoed around him and a loud _crack_ like splitting glass- _which_ , he realized in horror, _it is_ \- thundered through his mind. The lights around him flickered like a dying lightbulb for a moment before they finally stabilized, but he felt sluggish and tired and the colors moved far more slowly.

With desperation snapping at his heels, Danny turned hastily away from the 'cut' and darted through the blurring landscape of his mind. Somehow he knew he was running straight inwards, towards the 'center' of his mind, and with each step his surroundings grew darker and more de-stabilized until the objects had vanished and the glass was cracked and fractured like the surface of a dropped phone. The light inside the glass had been replaced with ominous-looking inky tendrils that writhed inside of the glass like they were in fighting to get out. Every once in a while, one of the tendrils would thrash and, with a sound like a whip, the glass would crack further

When his eyes finally fell upon the 'center' of his mind, he almost didn't know what to think. Whatever it had been before it was now a mess of red and green, like blood and ectoplasm. Both substances spilled sluggishly from the cracks hidden behind them and pooled in a lake at the foot of what looked like it had once been a tower of some sort. The hair on his neck stood on end and Danny fought down a rising sense of panic and horror as he stared at the physical representation of his inner battle. It looked like a warzone and he wasn't sure where to start.

Moving ever so cautiously towards the tower of blood and ectoplasm, Danny spotted what looked like a piece of smooth silver. It was roughly the size of a shoe box and completely clean, untouched by the green and red substances, yet completely surrounded. And just like that, he knew that his answer lay in that small piece of metal. He waded through the pool of green and red, which clung to his clothes and dragged at him as though trying to hold him back, until he stood right in front of the small rectangle. His veins felt as though there was electricity running through them and he tingled with anxious energy.

Taking a steadying breath, he reached out and pressed his hand to the freezing silver.

* * *

"How much more time does he have?" Pandora asked quietly.

She and Airmed were sitting across from each other in the latter's office. A long period of silence had followed Airmed's revelation. During that time, Danny had quieted. He'd gone from violent thrashing to rolling about and muttering, and then to twitches and groans before he'd finally become completely still. Only the occasional movement of his fingers, turn of his head, and the slow rise and fall of his head reassured them that he was still alive.

Airmed shook her head slowly and she hung her head at the question. It was the most she'd moved in the last two hours and it made the Queen's heart drop. The nurse's wings were drooping, their feathered tips brushing the floor as she slumped in defeat.

"He collapsed a week and four days ago." Airmed murmured, her tone empty. "And he's been in a critical state ever since then. Even considering a ghost's high endurance, his human half can't withstand- _he_ can't withstand such a state for so long. Sooner or later, his heart and core are going to give out."

Pandora clenched her fists, her eyes flicking over to the still teen on the bed. For once, it just didn't seem _fair_. She was hundreds of years old and she had many years of experience under her belt, so she knew exactly how cruel a mistress life could be and yet, just this once, none of this seemed fair. Danny didn't even realized the consequences of the fact that his parents had _created_ a natural portal rather than latched onto an already existing one or crafted a synthetic one. He'd been forced into a struggle between worlds that was only going to get worse before it got better and he was just _fourteen_. He should still be hanging out with his friends without a care in the world; not learned to control his powers so he wouldn't be killed or experimented on.

And he certainly shouldn't be laying on a hospital bed, nearly as still as the dead, with each passing breath drawing him closer and closer to the end of his life. In just the short few weeks she'd known him, Pandora had come to think of Danny as someone who was realistic and eager, sarcastic and clever, loyal and lighthearted, but with a level-headed sort of seriousness that few people could manage. He was a good person deserving of a long and fruitful life, and yet… here he lay. Dying.

"How much longer, Airmed?" Pandora asked again.

"I'm not completely sure, considering in his state-" The nurse began hesitantly, obviously unwilling to voice her estimates as though that could prevent them from becoming true.

"Airmed! How much longer?" The blue-skinned Queen interrupted. She needed to know. The winged ghost sighed and her mournful gaze turned to the unconscious teen. "At the best?" She answered;

"Two days."

* * *

 **Review Responses:**

 **Kimera20** _and_ **KuriMaster13** _and_ **Sonochu** – Thank you for your reviews!


	12. Chapter 12

Dear readers,

No, I'm not going away forever, but I am going to vanish for a bit. I'm happy with my story ideas and the reception to them, but I'm not happy with the way the pacing and writing turned out. So, I'm going to rewrite and finish my current stories and probably post them all at once for you to read. The only stories this doesn't apply to are _Bloodstains_ and _Hidden Scars_. The first because I'm happy with it's pacing and the second because it's a one shot series and I might rewrite a couple of the chapters. Hopefully I won't be gone long and I'll see you soon. Below is a list of stories that I'm working on now to publish (and you'll probably notice that my writing stem from having too many stories to write in a very wide range of categories) once they're complete. When they are finished I will update my profile with the date of their release and post all the chapters at once. (Unless I feel like it would work better chapter by chapter; in which case there will be a new one each week). I'll be including a brief description/summary/teaser and may offer up pieces of chapters to read of you would like to. One of these days, I'll remodel my profile page to be a bit cleaner, but for now this message will have to do. I'm sorry about this, but I struggle with having quote-unquote "deadlines" for my stories, and don't like feeling pressured to update them because I've posted them already. Hindsight is 20/20, I suppose. I still hope you'll enjoy my stories when they come out and I'll work on making them first 5-pages worthy, because that's where I hope one of my stories will end up one day. Thank you for all you're support, and I'll see you in a few months.

-Wolf

(I'm currently working on putting together the list of stories-in-the-works. They will appear here when it's completed.)


	13. I will update

All right.

Everyone breathe, sit down, and buckle up.

I've got a lot of explaining to do and I know it.

I'm going to be extremely blunt: less than a year ago, I wanted to die.

Yes, I was suicidal. I was Depressed. I hated my life and hated myself for hating my life.

It was entirely all-consuming, and it eventually ripped apart the only joy I had left in life: writing.

Okay, blunt part over.

I'm really sorry I haven't been updating. I realize that I've been skittish, never quite finished a story, disappeared for months at a time, and that it probably seems like I'd quit altogether. I swear to you, hear and now, I haven't. For some time now, I've wondered if I should just delete my account and start over. It seemed like the only thing that would work.

But, then, I realized something.

I was tired of starting over. Of quitting. I've spent the last five years trapped in my own personalized Hell while I struggled with MDD (Major Depressive Disorder) and suicidal thoughts. I thought I was dramatic and needed to get myself together. I put myself down and told myself other people had it worse. I lived in complete and utter denial for a few years. I wrote and read like a madman; trying to escape reality.

Then I finally lost. I broke down under the weight of trying to hold myself together and called my sister. I told her how I felt, she spoke to my family for me, and we spent the next half a year tip-toeing around trying to find a way to help me.

My gynecologist put me on some mild medicine to help with my mood swing, and we all hoped that I would be fine with that. That it was just my hormones wreaking havoc on me.

A few months later, I dropped out of my first semester of college without a word and just about shut down. I worked on autopilot and was absolutely miserable. I _wanted_ to write. I wanted so desperately to fall back into the worlds I'd created. I felt like I was letting all of you down by not updating.

Eventually, I lost the will to care.

My wonderful mother saw through every fake "I'm okay" and set up at appointment with a psychologist in January of 2017.

I kid you not when I say my psychologist actually turned to me and said, "You know… most people come in earlier than this. Like… a _lot_ earlier."

It took her all of four seconds to diagnose me with MDD and up my medication dosage.

A couple weeks later, I had a rather stunning revelation.

I was _happy_.

I was driving back home, singing terribly to my favorite song in the car, and utterly happy. There was no hint of negativity that dragged it down. For the first time in _years_ I was truly, truly happy. In fact, it had been so long that I had absolutely no idea what to do with myself. None whatsoever.

I wanted to try getting back into writing.

On February 21, Billy Joe, my cat who has been with me for as long as I can remember, passed away.

He was old, at 13 years, and sick with what the vet and I both guessed was Feline Kidney Disease, which was untreatable.

He hadn't eaten anything in three days, hadn't gone to the bathroom, and was barely drinking any water. He was also going hypothermic. The vet offered a series of fluids and pills. It would keep him alive for a while longer.

I couldn't do that to him. I loved him too much.

I knew it was time.

I _knew_.

So, I did the hardest thing I have ever done in my life… I let him go.

It's July, I just turned 19, I'm still trying to figure this thing called growing up out, and I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing with my life.

But. I want to write.

I swear to all of you, I am trying my hardest to get back into it. I realize it's already been far too long, but please be patient with me a bit longer. I'm trying and I swear- to you and to myself- that I _will_ get there.

Thank you all. For all of you reviews, favorites, comments, and especially your loyalty.

Your support means more to me than I could ever express in words.


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